Pilots
by Rain-kawa
Summary: Starter stories that may never be finished. Some 1,000 words others 100,000 - and everything in between. I may come back to them again, I may not. This is my testing grounds. Be prepared to not be satisfied. (Rated M just in case)
1. Shadow of a Wolf

She inhaled as she walked through the tall grass. She was no longer on her family's land. She was still sore from fighting with her brother, but it was fight she was going to treasure. He had thrown her off the cliff the moment her mother brought her up to the caves where they all lived, and he had thrown her off a cliff the day it was time for her to leave. She would have stayed there forever, but her mother's dying wish had been that it not be so. They had taught her to be strong, but they also had kept her isolated. She always had an interest in humans, and now she wanted to see if it would be

She wore Yuki's soft caribou skin about her shoulders. It was a huge piece so she easily had made a fold in it to cover her head. She was covered from head to mid shin in the fabric piece. If she needed to she would throw it off, roll it up, tie it, and swing it over a shoulder. Other than the gifted piece, she wore short black shorts, a leather strap about her hips which had a few bags on it, and tight black wraps to tightly bind her chest. Her dark-nearly-black eyes were shadowed by the cloth-made hood, making them look pure charcoal black. The cloth hid her short shredded black hair. Her stubborn chin and soft cheek bone frame were the only visible features other than part of her shin, her ankles, and her bare feet.

The girl stepped out of the grass and towards an area that looked as if it was all sand. Never before had she seen or felt sand in any quantity other than a handful. It was such a new experience that she wanted to go no faster than already slow reflective walk. She smiled as she remembered the altercation she had had with her pack members to be able to experience this.

_She had been in her massive wolf form She stood about 15 times the size of a normal wolf with rich dark black fur and black eyes. Her white teeth flashed as she nipped the air in play. _

"_Zeda… Do you notice how I smell different as a wolf than you?" Her mind had been wandering for many days since the humans who were passing through their territory had finally gotten out of it._

"_You smell like Youjoji. Daughter of the great deceased Youzuki, Sister of the powerful Hachirou and his mate Yuki, and niece of the fierce Groudi" The normal sized wolf responded with great pride. The mature adult wolf had been born when Youjoji was nine. She had helped raised the golden brown wolf along with several others._

"_I want to go to outside the territory I think, maybe see these places the humans are always traveling to or from when they pass through here." Her grunt caused a shock among the wolves that were walking with her._

"_WHAT!"  
><em>

"_WHY!?"_

"_To just go and see… to be like my mother maybe? Or at least to fulfill her dying wish… You know she raised me near a human village until I was six." She reminded them_

"_Both you and your mother were not welcomed back though by the other demons. We heard the stories of how many times they tried to kill you and fought with her because of those actions."_

"_I'm much stronger now, they won't hurt me so easily..." She responded with a wolf-ish smirk._

"_What about the humans?" Zeda asked. Youjoji did not respond. Other than growing up near a village until the age of six, she had a very limited amount of interactions with humans. A few of those interactions were ones that had clearly marked to her that humans could be extremely dangerous._

"_I am a wolf demon pack member; humans dare not hunt me… I hunt them." She responded with the same words her uncle often sneered out. The wolves she was out with accepted the words, but there was an air of sadness and worry around the group._

Her bare feet felt the rich soil slowly turn sandy as she continued on. She stopped as her eyes took in the endless sand. She glanced behind her. Her grandfather had told her about the place of endless sand, the place of endless water, endless snow and the place of endless rocks. When she was little she loved to listen to him recount the places he had been, how he survived and ruled. It had been no surprise to him that she had wanted to go see the world, go see where she belonged.

She turned around and walked back to the grasses. Swinging off the blanket she bunched it up. Unlike wolves, wolf demons could use the shapes of humans and thus give themselves an advantage that they had not before. She would gather food before heading out into the place of endless sand with its radiant sun.

She hunted for plants and found gourds to fill with water. If she was with the pack they would have needed to find and dry rabbits, though usually they would just hunt on their outings together. The wolves would stalk through the grasses, coming and going. Their quietness would hold conversations with her. As she picked through the plants she wanted to bring, she let her mind recollect on her solitude. If she was with the pack, she would have someone to walk beside, someone to sleep near, someone to go to, and someone's scent to inhale.

Inhaling through her nose, she smelled the dry plants, the earthy soil, soft lively rabbits, skittish birds, and alluring sand. Her dark eyes dashed over towards the endless sand that soon would be beneath her feet. With the soft skin full of food and sealed water gourds, she started moving towards the sand again; her pace still as slow as a human walk.

"Quick inform the gate. There is a person heading this way half naked and carrying a sack." A man called down from the ridge.

The message was sent to the gate and then also to the Kazekage. It was strange for them to get a single villager, especially one traveling without an camel and supplies. They were not sure if they needed guards or medics.

The girl kept her dark eyes on the large plateau ahead. She was certain the light scent of human that she had picked up on a few days ago was coming from there. Now within sights of it, the smell was much stronger. Her newly acquired companion was draped over her shoulders going down and about her chest as well. He was six feet in length, an unusually large yellow and black striped kingsnake. With the heat of the day he was sunbathing on her skin. If he became too warm he would coil up her arm and she would loosen the grip of the cloth to allow him entrance. It had been because of his interest in her bag that she first found him when going through it one morning.

Her eyes flashed as she noticed four figures came out of the base of the plateau. She did not tense or change her pace of walk. The snake was acute to her body movement and she had already been bitten by him once when she accidentally smashed him between her arm and side. They approached her as she continued to approach them.

"Greetings." A man called out. He wore a black hood and dark clothes. His face had lines of red on it and he was tall.

"Hi…" She responded softly uncertain on how well her human vocabulary would hold up.

"I am the Kazekage, This is Kankuro, Baki, and Temari." A red haired male a few inches taller than her used his hand to gesture to himself and those around him. She nodded her head at each of their names, but she did not actually catch the red head's in time.

"Hiisssssssss." The kingsnake used his mouth to make a sound similar to that of a rattler. She smiled at it before loosening the grip of the cloth. The snake traveled her arm and ran away into the make-shift bag.

"Sorry." She smiled at them noting that their eyes had watched every motion of the snake.

"What brings you to Hidden Village of the Sand, or are you just passing through?" The man with a cloth over half his face asked. She could not understand much of the noise for she did not recognize the words. "Where are you from?" He asked after hearing no response to his first question.

"There." She brought up her free hand and pointed a straight path to where her pack would be. Of course at a human's pace it would take them a few weeks to get there.

"Do you need a place to stay?" The red haired man asked.

"No. I no need." She shrugged. She could survive without assistance, that was not what she was looking for. "I go there; to see." She used her free hand again to point to the plateau, the direction from which the four had come from.

"Do you understand us?" The golden blonde female asked. She had hard eyes that reminded the girl of a wolf. The female stood taller than herself, and her body was fuller. Compared to this female she looked small, but that was far from the truth.

"Nope. I know few, no many. Sorry." She shrugged. The snake hissed at her for moving the bag causing her to grin. He was a character, demanding things when he was small and harmless.

"Can you tell us what you want?" Kankuro asked carefully unsure now if she knew what he was saying.

"Humans… see new… and… to know more?" Her eyes narrowed in uncertainty at her own statement. It was hard for her to know if she was actually saying what she wanted to mean. She had very little practice speaking.

"Humans?" The red head repeated.

"Yes!" She chirped up. "I like 'em and when little I was with them." She smiled explaining.

"What about before?" Baki asked. Youjoji only caught the sounds 'what' and 'for', thus she associated it to her statement that she liked humans.

"You no like humans?" She asked confused. She sniffed the air. They all smelled human.

"No, I mean… why weren't you with humans before? After you were little." He tried again.

"Why before-after I was little?" She repeated not even sure if he would make sense IF she could understand him.

"Never mind." Baki grunted out annoyed.

"You are welcome in my village as long as you do not harm the villagers." The red haired man informed the now very confused girl.

"I go there." She pointed to the plateau again not having the slightest idea what they were saying. It was clear to her now that she could not communicate with them very well. Since talking wasn't going to work, she was just going to go back to her original plan of going to where the human scent was and seeing what was there.

"Wait… Are you a runaway? Dangerous? A fugitive? A prostitute? Wild?" Baki went off with a string of questions.

"Baki." He did not see the point of questioning the girl since she barely understood them as it was. The man's blue eyes glanced towards the taller one.

"Strong-" He started again, but the glance cut him short. Yojoji had already heard the first word however, and she recognized it.

"I strong." She smiled. "No problem, I strong, no need help." She finished believing that they were worried that they have to take care of her. They noted her response.

"Do you have a name?" He asked now with Baki's questioning silenced

"Yo'u-jo. J'oji…" She attempted to say the name that her mother and brother had created by combining the two things they called her, but it was too difficult. It was not something she heard in a human voice normally. Thinking she remembered back. "Uh, wait…. Human say Eriko… Name is Eriko" She clarified.

"Welcome to the sand village… Eriko. Temari will show you around." He nodded to solidify his own decision, though he wasn't certain about her name. Her dark eyes devoured his appearance and body language. Unlike the others, he was nearly expressionless. She snorted lightly. Again she did not understand, but she could tell from his quiet demeanor and their physical response the conversation was over.

"Ok. Thank you." She informed them. They took it as thank you for the escort; however she had meant it as thank you for the conversation. To not waste any more time she moved forward.

Her first step was slow, however her second step was a light hop. She now had launched herself out six feet from them and heading towards their village. Her other foot came down again, her toes pressed into the sand and she launched herself even farther and faster. On her forth step, she jumped straight up. Her body paralleled the cliff as it soared upwards. She easily got up to the height of it's top, but she had used enough power to make sure she rose above it. Glancing down, she saw it was hallow inside. There were houses, people, buildings, tents, and a whole human village. She smiled as a far distant memory drifted in her head. When she was little her mother once had jumped up to let her look down on a village to see it in entirely. Angling her body she aimed for the inside of the plateau. She wanted to be here, to see what it was like.

Temari had took off after the girl but as she stepped down a third time she found herself unable to keep up. She watched helplessly as the girl jumped up with amazing speed easily clearing the village wall and diving down into it. Her brother, the Kazekage, had assigned her to be the girl's escort, and she wasn't going to let him down. Running as fast as she could, she focused on trying to catch up.

She landed on the soft, cooler sand and jumped into the nearest shadow. She wanted to observe the village unnoticed first, to help her get a feel for how it worked. Her body moved with grace and stealth. Years of playing with her brother, and hunting with the pack had allowed her to develop a superior ability of sneaking through the shadows unnoticed. While hunting and playing with the other wolves had given her the chance to fine tune and practice, it was her brother and the other demons hunting her that caused it to develop immensely.

Her eyes drifted among the faces, while her ears absorbed the noises they made. The humans interacted with each other, sometimes their faces showed happiness, sadness, anger, contentment, and sometimes they showed nothing. She easily noticed several types of people, and trends. There were humans who all had metal plates on them somewhere, humans who walked as if they were important, and humans who moved as if they too were not being noticed by those around them.

"Kazekage!" Temari ran back to her brother in able to find the girl. "I can't find her."

"What?" Baki asked.

"It is like she vanished. I found a few footsteps leading to the market, but then nothing." She responded.

"Put out a search group, I do not think she is dangerous, but it's better to be safe than sorry." Baki responded glancing towards the Kazekage.

"She's by the curry shop." He could feel her movements on the sand. After seeing the girl jump the wall, he felt for her drop. She had landed lightly before dashing towards a nearby building. She moved quickly with light steps. Sometimes she paused, other times she zigzagged. He could not tell what she was thinking, but she knew where she was.

Temari nodded her head before dashing off again.

"Are you sure it's a good idea that we let her in the village?" Baki asked uncertain.

"Well she doesn't seem so bad to me." Kankuro responded.

"Then you go watch her too." Baki told him before returning his gaze to the kazekage.

Gaara went back to work.

Her eyes watched as a woman with amber color hair gave a small child a bunch of round smooth stones. The boy smiled and shoved them into his pocket. The woman pushed back the boy's dark oak colored hair and kissed his head. Youjoji wondered if she was regurgitating energy to him. The boy waved goodbye and walked away towards a building as the woman turned and left as well.

She watched the small boy's awkward walk in his loose clothing. They all wore a lot for clothing, and she wondered how they did not get caught more often because of it. A glint of sun from the clothing grabbed her attention. A small round stone fell from the area the boy put the rocks. He took a few more steps and then another fell. She looked at the path of small round stones curiously wondering if he knew it was occurring. Wanting to get a closer look at them, she stepped out of the shadows.

The stone had swirl of colors and fit nicely in the palm of her hand. She placed the rock into one of the pouches on her belt. Rock after rock she followed the trail, picking them up and placing them into the pouch she carried. Each one was different with its colors and swirls; she was kind of starting to like them.

"Eh…" A sad surprised sound came at her. Looking up she saw the boy carrying stones in his hand, clumsily dropping one in his surprise. His eyes looked sad as he looked her over.

She smiled. Placing her make-shift bag on the ground, her hands moved to the pouch and belt. She undid the strap and walked towards the awkward child. Taking it, she looped it around him and put it about his waist. Forcing a new hole, she locked it in place. She picked up the small stone he had just dropped and placed it in the pouch before rising to her full height. She smiled again, and patted his head. Swooping up the bag she vanished back into the shadows.

The snake hissed at her again. The girl sighed and allowed him out of the blanket. It was becoming night, and though the metal band people were everywhere, she had still avoided most of the humans. She wondered if she could actually do this, the humans were very confusing.

* * *

><p>Gaara stood on the roof of the building under the night's sky. Though Baki had deployed most of the available ninjas, they could never find nor keep up with the girl. A week had passed before they finally informed him of the situation, after asking if he still knew where the girl was going. Seeing that he would have to find her himself, he called them all off. There had been a number sightings of her according to the report. Most of the cases were where she came out of no where and helped them with something. It ranged from helping a child who had fallen to carrying a woman's groceries. It was written that she rarely talked in these instances, and usually vanished after them. There was one case where someone tried to give her a plate of food and she glared at them with what was quoted as "demon eyes" before vanishing again.<p>

His eyes moved to the direction she was in. She was still awake and dancing or walking around the training grounds. He knew no one was there at this time of night, but her movements were as if she was sparring with a partner. Wanting to finally find her and put Baki's mind at rest, Gaara wrapped the sand around him.

Sand uplifted without a source a few feet from her. Uncertain, she jumped back into the shadows. She still did not understand the humans, and every day she was learning something knew. If this flying sand was something human, she wanted to watch it unnoticed. The man with red hair appeared where she had been. He had not come from the shadows, or the ground, but out of the air and sand. It was a human trick and it both frightened and excited her to see one so close.

"Eriko?" He glanced towards her causing her to duck down more. She knew from her brother's hunting that he surely could not see her in the shadows. Human eyes were not as sharp as her family's. However, he seemed to be gazing directly at her as if he knew her location.

"Eriko." He tried again. While he was looking to where he knew her feet were on the sand, he could see nothing in the dark shadows. The weight her feet placed on the sand told him that she was probably crouched down. "Would you like a bed?" He asked.

The girl landed out in front of him, her head cocked to the side. "Bed?"

"To sleep in." He explained.

"I sleep there." She pointed her arm out to the right. Though his expression did not change much, she could tell he was confused. She smirked because maybe she knew he was confused just because she was confused a lot now too.

"Come." She told him jumping to the right slightly to make sure he got the idea. He caught on and awaited her next movement. Smiling, she jumped up and led him to the place she had been sleeping for the last week.

Gaara followed her across the training grounds and up on the roof tops. She stopped when she came to a roof with a small overhang on its second floor. He instantly saw her cloth bag spread out as a blanket and the head of the snake peeking out. He glanced around to notice that it was a secluded dark spot off the sand and out of the way.

He frowned. There were no beds open, for the ninjas were all back in the village. He also was not certain if she would even sleep in the same building as them. She seemed to not want to be seen so she could have the ability to come and go as she pleased. However, he did not want her sleeping outside like an unwanted dog.

"Would you stay in my spare bedroom as my guest?" He asked her carefully. He did not want her to think they were trying to keep a close eye on her, though it was the truth. Since she had so easily avoided them, Baki and some of the others had become suspicious of her. If she could so easily sneak through the village, it was no doubt that she could also be come a thief if she wanted, or worse.

"I… I am… I stay here." She was confused.

"Come with me, bring your things." He informed her seeing that she did not know enough to understand what he was saying. The girl looked at him sadly before turning and picking up the blanket. The snake hissed at her before curling itself about her waist. Gaara noted the strong look in her eyes which masked a quiet sadness. He knew that feeling from his childhood, but he was not sure to why she felt that way.

He lead her across town and back across the training grounds. The house was two stories with three bedrooms. It was the Kazekage's house, which he inherited when he finally assumed the position. While it was near his office, it was secluded from the other houses to allow him a break without isolating him from the village. He thought it a good place for her to stay, one so he could keep track of her in case she was a threat and two because she would not bother the others, especially Baki who disliked her ability to elude him.

"Here." He informed her as they entered the door. She followed close behind him, her eyes were observing everything while her body moved with certainty.

"I… I… stay? You, no say go home? No say I bad?" She asked confused. When he had told her to get her blanket and the snake, she was certain that they were kicking her out of the village. She had often been thrown away from the humans who dared to pass through their territory, she was certain that humans would be even less likely to allow her near in their territory.

"Bad?" He repeated the word quietly. There was no questioning or defensive tone, but instead it was just spoken in observation. She recognized her mistake, she had now given them a reason to fear her though that was not at all her intent.

"I play nice, 'romise." She told ducking her head down into a slight bow.

"Your bedroom will be on the second floor." He told her ignoring the slight chance that she might be a threat. He brought her up the stairs and turned left. Opening the door he allowed her to look into the room. She did not go in but waited for him. Seeing that she was not going to move, he went into the room and saw that she followed.

"You sleep here." He told her.

"OK." Her eyes glanced about the room. She had allowed him to enter first for she had once gone into a human's tent when a woman opened the entrance for her and found herself in a trap with blades and nets. There were no traps in this room that she could see, no poisons that she could smell, and no sign of human tricks except that there was sand everywhere. While it was only lightly dusted across the room, she remembered how he had appeared instantly out of it. She was a bit suspicious, but she wanted to be in the village more.

She saw a large flat high surface in the middle of the room. There was wooden statues with small handles, and a reflective surface on the wall. Her eyes drifted to the darkest corner of the room. It was right by the doorway, thus easy for her to place the blanket there. The snake shot over to it first, followed by herself. She felt the man's shadow move towards the door. He was leaving.

"Th'ank you, A… Iam… Kaz.. " Her eyes stared at his pale blue ones. She cringed at her stutter but she could not come up with a name for him.

"Za… Im… Kag… Ar." She tried again, feeling bad that she did not know the right sounds.

"You may call me Gaara." He informed her on the way out.

"'Aarrra" She repeated with a smile before curling up in the corner to sleep.

The kazekage laid in his bed. The girl had curled up in the corner not the bed. She had refused to enter any entryway first, though she did not actually hesitate or show any sign of worry or fear. She had jumped out so quickly that he had only seen her incoming body, not the actual place she was crouching. She had picked a secluded barren place to sleep, and her only possession seemed to be the blanket which she brought along. He wanted to know more about her, for she was clearly lacking knowledge and skills that even he been taught though he was often isolated from the others.

He suddenly became alert. The girl's foot steps were moving the sand which he had dusted across the floors and furniture. First she simply just went about the outer edge of the room, but then she turned back towards the door. She left the room and walked into the hallway. He closed one of his eyes and placed two fingers to it. A sand eye formed in the hallway, hidden up in the corner. The girl was crouched down frozen in place. Now able to see her, he wondered if she somehow knew about the sand eye. She did not move her body but instead cocked her head. She was listening.

Her hand reached down and gently touched the floor. Sand clung to the palm of her hand. She brought it up towards her face. Rubbing her fingers together she felt the sand before blowing it away. Sand was everywhere in this house, and while she liked it, she was suspicious of the humans' tricks. She hopped up, landing very carefully on a bar near the stairs. Balancing, she froze again. She could have sworn something entered the hallway, for the shadows were not right, however whatever it was, it was small. Unable to find the source of the change, she relaxed slightly.

Her balance was amazing and her senses were acute. He did not move the sand eye, for he knew she was looking for it. He did not know how she figured it out it had appeared, but he was certain she was trying to find it. After several minutes, she started to move normally again. First her arms moved outwards, and then her feet followed. He noticed that every step on the sand was slow and careful. She was moving towards his door.

Youjoji reached another door. His scent trail told her he entered it. Uncertain, she slowly turned the handle before swinging it open quietly. Crouching down she caught the door before it could make sound. She paused. Memories of entering the kind woman's tent came into her mind. The woman had smiled at the small half naked little girl. The girl had short hair held up into two small bushels with twine her mother had woven in. The girl was seven years old and had just left her the only lively hood she knew to live with her mother's family, who hated her. This woman had smiled with an expressive face, and opened the tent door quietly just like she had. Inhaling she remembered how strong she had become since then, and how much wiser. Jumping she launched her body far past the doorway landing seven feet into the room in a single quiet bound.

Gaara quietly moved sand about the room, but the girl froze again slightly tensing. He paused his motion. He was certain that he could easily reprimand her even with her speed and stealth. He waited to see what her target was. Her body barely moved, but for the most part she stayed still.

Youjoji looked over his body. He breathed so calmly she could not tell if he wake or asleep. It was not as deep as sleeping breath, but not as active as awake. Her body did not move. She looked at his body on the large flat surface in the room. He was under the cloths that laid upon it. It now made sense to her to why the subtle but strange look had appeared in his eyes briefly when she threw her blanket into the corner to sleep. Humans did not sleep in small dens or safe heavens, but open on these soft boxes. She looked about the rest of the room, seeing it to be the same in its appearance. Sand too was dusted in this room. Her eyes glanced to the window quickly. It was getting late and she wanted to arise at dawn to watch the sun come up. Here the sun's rays were not blocked by trees or mountains, but came up clear and bright. Shifting her body she carefully left his room so not to disturb his possibly sleeping body.

Gaara felt her move back through the hallway. Using his sand eye he followed her back to her room. The girl moved much more freely now, as if she no longer was sneaking about. She gathered up the blanket she had in the corner and carefully brought the snake with it. In a clean movement, she was up on the bed. She put the snake down and used her hands to feel about it. She pulled at the covers unbinding them from the sides and slid her body under them. Her body rose up again into a sitting position. He wondered if she once again knew the eye was there or not. She rolled over to her side and slid back into the covers. She brought the blanket to her chest and hugged it tightly closing her eyes. A soft laughed formed from her lips before she quieted down completely. Her breath moved in a deep rhythm signaling she was nearly asleep.

Gaara disconnected the eye. Part of him wondered if she had entered the room just to see what the bed was for. Whatever the reason for her wandering, he had witnessed just how keen her senses were and how stealthy she was. Baki had good reason to wonder about her, for with such skills she was easily a dangerous enemy. However, from his witness he also had come to the conclusion that she was a stranger to village life and was no true danger. He did wonder what she was capable of if provoked, but he did not believe she would cause any intentional harm. He decided in the morning, he would figure out what to do next.

* * *

><p>Youjoji's bare feet played with the cold sand as she waited for the crisp radiant beams of light to shine beyond the village wall. The small human boy who lost rocks constantly would be soon in front of her with his mother or caretaker. Yesterday she saw him being played with by the other human children, except he cried. Tears were strange to her. Wolves did not cry, and thus since the age of six she saw not a single tear from anyone around her.<p>

"Takeo." A female voice cried out as small boy ran past her. She instantly recognized his round face and dark brown hair. He wore over size clothes and her belt. Dragging his bag he ran past her. "Have a good day honey." She called him given him a half wave looking sadly as he entered the area Youjoji had looked through last night.

"Ta-ke-o?" Youjoji spoke, catching the woman's attention.

"Yes, that is my son's name. I am Shika, his mother." Her amber hair was pulled back into a single tail. She had pretty hazel eyes that had sparks of gold in them. The gold reminded Youjoji of her brother's eyes.

"Hi Shika. Human say I name Eriko, But Eri is good too" She had an accent as she talked, but she did not let it hinder smiled kindly as her eyes drifted to the gate. She knew on the other side the boy might be played with by the other larger boys. "Bye." She told the woman knowing she needed to get going.

"Air-ee-ko?" The woman pronounced it out slowly. The name meant Child with a collar and it was the –ko that meant child. The girl lightly hopped into a shadow away from the rising sun. It was at that moment that the woman lost sight of the girl who had questioned her son's name.

Youjoji hopped up on to the gate wall back into the area where 'Arra had found her last night. The boy once again was being played with. He was in the middle and the larger boys were laughing. This time they were holding up a belt away from his grasp. She smirked. In her mind flashed to her own brother holding up food and keeping it out of her reach back when she was little... Feet first she jumped down.

"Hey." She barked at them with a smirk. The boy that was holding the belt looked at her shocked to see that she now had it. She snorted out aggressively, and they all scrambled away without a word.

"T'a-keo?" She glanced at the small boy in the sand who was once again crying. The boy looked up at her surprised.

"How-how-how… how do you know my name?" He asked a bit skittish.

"Mother." She grinned. It was the word she had used a lot when she was little and living with her mother near the village. It probably was the human word she knew best.

"You going to tell her?" He asked as she knelt down and put the belt back around his waist.

"My dad died, and I am the man of the house now. You can't tell her, if you tell her she will be sad cause I am supposed to be the man and I am not." He started to pout and cry again. All Youjoji caught was a question about telling his mother, talking to his mother and something about some man.

"Tell her what?" She asked wishing for him to say it again, but instead he just smiled as if she had answered his question in a good way.

"Thank you miss." He stated as he started to hug her before he decided to bow.

"Miss? No. Eriko o' Eri." She smiled as she stated the human name before running off as a bell made all the other children go inside. The boy nodded to her and ran off towards the sound of the bell as well.

Youjoji wondered if the more she stated the human name, the more she would think of it as her own. It was hard to hear herself called anything other than Youjoji, a name made from combining Youjo and Joji which her mother and brother called her respectively.

She already knew her next destination. There was this old-old-old angry man who always got up and carried this huge barrel from a place that smelled of dried stale plants to a place that smelled like food. No longer just observing the town, she wanted to find a way to obtain food. The wolves had once told her that if they helped a human, which was rare, they would sometimes be fed snacks for it.

"Hi." She inquired meeting the old man the moment he left the building.

"Go away, I'm busy, Can't you see that?" He barked at her viciously. It was the same set of sounds he told anyone who approached him. She smiled. His bark reminded her of a stubborn wolf who often bared his teeth for no reason.

"I 'elp?" She grinned trying to win him over with her pleasant caring mannerisms.

"I do not need your help, I'm fine, go away." He barked back as he wavered in his step. The barrel was far too heavy for his body and she could see it hurting his joints as he moved. Smiling, she bumped his leg gently with her foot. The movement was so quick and fast that no one saw it.

"Eh!" He grunted as he fell down. The barrel rolled out of his grip.

"Mr. Hajoh!"

"Get away, Leave me be! I'm fine!" He shouted at all the people who came to help him. Youjoji did not move to help him up, but instead she kicked the barrel back towards. She did not pick up the barrel that now sat at her feet.

"H'hhh" He groaned as he finally got back up into a stand. He looked about for the barrel only to find it sitting near a nearly-naked girl. The girl looked like she did not live in civilization. She had black wraps around her nearly flat chest with black shorts. Her short black hair stuck up in all directions covered in grease and dirty from sand. However, despite her appearance, her dark eyes were sharp and her lips formed a light smirk.

"Give back my barrel." He forced out through his lack of breath from getting back up. He moved towards the large container filled with grain he needed for his restaurant.

"I 'elp." She told him as she easily hoisted it up to one shoulder using the same arm to hold it there.

"No, put that down you brat. That's mine!" He roared peeved at the young girl's assertive flare.

"I know, No't mine, your… Now go." She grinned as she started walking. If he was anything like Kahn, he would sneer, yowl, and growl the whole way through.

"When I was your age, I listened to my elders, now give me back my barrel! I need my barrel! You thief put down my barrel! Keep your nose out of my business!" He shouted drawing attention to them as they walked the path he normally took.

"Put down my barrel, you are damaging my food, give back my property!" He waved his cane at her, however he needed it to walk so he could not throw it. She tried not to laugh. If it had been Kahn, she would have been bitten by now. The old man was angry, but anger and danger meant very little to her. Because of her own brother, threats had long been meaningless when they referenced what they could do to her.

The old man had made sure the walk to his destination had been a long loud trip and there was not a moment that he left as silence. His hacking, shouting, barking, and gripping told her that witch each and every step she took, he hated her for helping him. She could not help but smile.

"Here." She put the barrel the moment they made it to the destination. He gave out an exasperated 'Finally' and hauled it inside. She followed quietly. He was occupied with getting it up on a table and then setting a large pot and adding some camel milk. His small round eyes looked up and saw her presence, something he should have noticed earlier.

"GET OUT!" He screamed. She laughed and left. Next time, she would put the barrel up on the table for it.

Having finished the two things she wanted to do, Youjoji found herself back to observing. With nothing else in mind, she went back to where she left Yuki's gift. Maybe she would nap until an idea came to her. She knew she wanted to be back when the sun was in the position at which the boy came back out from the village. However, there was lot of day left before that time.

She jumped back into the window that she had hopped out of from her bed. This time she did not care about landing on the sand, while this morning she was still uncertain about it. On the bed, well what she assumed was the bed; there was a ruffle of blankets. Her eyes scanned it and the room quickly. Yuki's gift was not there. For a moment she grew upset. With its scent in her nose, she ran down the stairs, out the door, and into another building.

* * *

><p>"So why did you bring this here if it is a sign she will be back there tonight?" Kankuro asked holding the large soft skin.<p>

"She's more dangerous than we first thought, to be able to trick the Kazekage…" Baki scowled.

"Her senses are keen." The kazekage responded. He had not thought anything of her opening the window last night, but he realized this morning that he should have. She had jumped from the bed to outside without touching any of the trigger sand he had laid throughout the house and room.

"She's only been up two hours so the trail should be fairly fresh." Baki commented.

"We couldn't find her last time, how is this any different, because we have her blanket?" Kankuro held up the blanket to make his point only to find that there was a girl latched on to the other end. Her black eyes were telling him to let go.

"You're back." He gave a sheepish grin as she just glared.

"Mine." She frowned noting his grubby hands were holding her blanket getting his scent all over it. While she did not mind the smell of sand, the smell of human she was not quite use to yet. He reeked of human and very little else. He did not let go so she put both hands on the blanket, pulling it to her.

"Miinnnnneeeee." She sneered. He moved his arm out to her as she gathered up every piece but the one he held.

"You better let go of that, she doesn't look too happy." Temari warned. Annoyed that he was not respecting her property, she did what she'd do to any stupid puppy.

"AH! GROSS!" He snapped his hand away from her precious skin. She had just barely mouthed him without near the force that she would use on a wolf, and if she had done such a weak motion to her brother he would have not even noticed.

The blonde female hid a laugh, while the man who covered half his face glared at her. She ignored them as she rubbed the blanket over and over in the spot that he had held, hoping that the oils on her hand would cover up his scent.

With the girl standing there before them in the light they could easily see that she was dirty, scrawny, and oily. Her hair stuck up, sand covered all her body, her ribs were showing, and there were signs of sores near the only garments of clothing she had. She did not look tired or worn though. The four all looked at each other, she needed clothes and a bath.

"I'll take her to the bath house, but considering the day I'm going to need permission" Temari offered up being the only other female. Glancing at her brother, she watched him write up a sheet before handing it to her with a nod.

"I doubt she's like the other girls." Kankuro commented. "I know it." He added as he looked at his hand still unable to believe she put her mouth to it.

"Eriko come with me." She told the girl. The blonde started moving towards the girl, using her blue eyes to direct Youjoji to the door.

"O… K…" Youjoji responded back uncertain to why everyone was staring at her. She did not do anything beside taking back what was rightfully hers. The woman opened the door for her, and she paused. She knew the doorway was safe because she had already gone through it, but because she was holding it she considered it carefully. Deciding that it was going to be ok, or she would be able to escape, she stepped through. The blonde followed her, but turned her head back towards the others as she shut the door.

"I also don't think she needs to be watched, if she was going to do something she would have already done it." The blonde closed the door and made a face towards Youjoji as if she was disgusting.

Temari glanced at the girl again and was met with a different expression. Her eyes were sad and she was pouting. The shorter girl kept looking down at her blanket then back up at the older ninja. For a moment Temari thought about feeling bad for the way that she looked at the dirty girl, but she could not help but feel dirty by just looking at her.

"It needs little water, but it nice… my sister…" Youjoji stopped unable to think of the word give. "My sister say for I, it for I." She improvised, looking up at the elder girl sadly. This was her precious gift she did not want the humans she was trying to live around to look down on it, especially those who were being kind to her.

"No… It's… I'll take you to water, ok?" Temari actually felt bad. She couldn't believe it. In just a few minutes, the girl had turned around the situation and made her go from an annoyance, to something to pity, to someone she wanted to help! If the girl talked like a baby she would have been annoyed, however it was clear that it was just because she did not know the words, not because she was unintelligent.

"The bathhouse is closed today." A man spoke to Temari with an annoyed tone. "You girls all know that this time every month the bathhouse is closed." He spoke with a harsh tone that caught Youjoji's attention.

"We have permission." Temari placed the official sheet on the front desk. "We won't need any assistance so don't call any of your female workers, the Kazekage will be coming this afternoon."

"Yeah, I know. Those women go crazy for him though just seven years ago he was a hideous demon to most of them and their families." He commented roughly.

"I know…" Temari spoke under her breath. Youjoji was certain the man did not hear. Her tone was sad, but the girl did not know why.

"Well here are your towels, enjoy." He gave the two a faked smile. Youjoji noticed how real it looked and then wondered why he needed to smile when he really didn't want to. Was it important to them to smile, she asked herself.

"Thank you." She responded as he gave her a thick fuzzy cloth piece. Smiling because she meant it, she wondered if she would no longer be harassed about smiling so often. The wolves had often called her childish, stupid, mutt-dog and human for smiling as often as she did. They were content and did not need a smile or tail wag to show it, though they did do such things as well, just not as often.

"Here," Temari stated as she started to undress. Youjoji glanced at her briefly. She had a large chest and feminine curves despite the masculine way she carried herself. If she was a wolf, she would be sought after as a mate. Wolves loved strong mates who were also feminine or masculine as needed. Females needed to be females to bare children, and males needed to be males for the same reason. Mates were for life, and thus a very important decision. Youjoji did not like the idea of mating anyone and she rarely found wolf males as attractive partners.

Temari looked across to see the girl follow her lead. The wraps about her chest were unraveled to reveal medium sized breasts. There were a few faint scars from fights. The girl also removed her shorts revealing sores and bruises, what caused Temari's eyes to widen though was scaring on the girl's inner thighs. There were also faint scars as those from a whip across her chest, and a dog's bite mark her right hip.

Temari said nothing as she led the now toweled girl over towards the female side of the bath house. Whatever the girl's past was, it had not been without hardship. That much was obvious. However, unlike Baki and Kankuro, she did not care or wish to look deeper than she already had. If the girl had any skeletons in her closet they would find out sooner or later, and if she was dangerous that too would make itself known. She was certain that nothing important was needed to be found out at this moment, and thus entered the tub in silence.

Youjoji watched as the woman laid down her towel and entered a tub. She instructed Youjoji to go into a smaller pool of water by motioning with her hand. Following the human's lead, she removed her towel and sunk herself into the lukewarm water. Instantly the water changed to a brown color as the dirt and grease that had been on her skin mixed into it. Temari tossed her a solid bar and she caught it. Uncertain what to do she glanced over. Temari was rubbing a similar solid object on her skin, thus Youjoji did the same. Small white bubbles formed as if it was froth from a waterfall. Smiling she continued the process all over her body. She felt her skin feel clean and fresh as the grease and sand was removed.

Finished she ducked under the water once and rinsed out her hair. Rising, she glanced towards Temari who had her eyes closed. Her mouth was set into a peaceful look. Youjoji thought of a wolf basking in the day light, enjoying its warm. Content with having bathed she went to go check out the rest of the building.

* * *

><p>"Ah Temari, the kazekage and Baki have decided to let the girl live in the village peacefully since she has done nothing to cause alarm." Kankuro informed his sister.<p>

"About time everyone came to their senses." She retorted.

"Speaking of Eriko, where is she?" Her brother looked about but did not see the girl.

Temari quickly walked past him, ignoring his question.

"She lost you didn't she?" He accused with a grin happy to see someone out smart his elder sister twice.

"I let her go since she is not a priority anymore." Temari did not look at Kankuro as she marched towards the ninja school. He was smiling and it was starting to annoy her.

* * *

><p>Gaara relaxed. Since he was captured, he took half a day a month off. The truth was though that he did not actually take it but his sister forced him to take it. She and his brother were worried about his health. The water washed over his actual skin. Normally he wore his sand armor and thus his skin rarely was in contact with anything besides that.<p>

"I too? T'mari not here, she go." An accented voice that he recognized spoke. Opening his eyes he saw dark ones staring back at him clearly. She had a towel wrapped about her, and he was covered by the water. However, that did not take from the fact that she was on the wrong side of the bath house.

"This is the male side." He informed her as a technicality. He was certain she would not completely catch the words.

"Temari go, n' you here. I be too?" She explained before asking again. Gaara looked her expression over carefully. Even if he said no, would she understand?

More so, compared to many of those he interacted with, she was not that way. She did not fawn over him like the other girls, she did not watch his every move like the elders, and she did not question or place extra weight into his words. To her, he was just another person no different from anyone else. He doubted that she saw anyone as extraordinary or as an outcast. Her eyes seemed to put everything onto equal ground.

"Just stay on that side." He informed her. She gave a nod of her head and started to remove the towel to enter the water. Gaara looked away respectfully, though if anyone found out he was certain it would be a huge mess.

"What?" She asked confused. He looked back at her question only to be met with her naked surprisingly medium sized chest with light scars which looked like whip marks across it. He looked away instantly.

"Get down in the water. Men and women do not bathe together." He informed her strictly.

"I 'orry, I do not know… I say and hear little." She tried to explain. Carefully Gaara glanced her way again, this time she was down and covered by the water.

"It is fine, just make sure no one sees you." He told her, wondering who would try to kill her first, the girls, the elders, or the ninjas. The girl sunk into the water farther and leaned her head backwards on the edge. Her breath was as slow as it was last night. He had assumed that the deep slow rhythm was her sleeping, but now he could clearly see it was not.

"No human see I, it is easy." She rolled her head around till the side of it was on the edge and her dark eyes were looking at him. "But I want to try be human, so I need human to see I." She explained.

"Just here. You can interact with the others as long as you do not hurt them." Gaara clarified realizing she misunderstood.

"Just here." She perked up nearly rising her chest out of the water. Gaara looked away momentarily.

"Stay down." He reminded her.

"Rry." She apologized and sat back down into the water so that it was up to her collar bone. "Why no up?" She asked curious.

"You are a girl I'm a male, it's indecent." The moment Gaara used the word he knew she did not understand.

"It's not right." He corrected. She looked at him confused.

"We no do…" She paused for she did not know the word for sex and thus had to improvise again. "like m'ates. So ok?" She finished. He read her expression easily. To her, it was not a problem. Where ever she came from it was ok for males and females to be together.

"Here it is not right." He informed her.

"Ok. What more?" She leaned forward, curious what other things she needed to know. "Is ok I hunt?" She asked wanting to know. Unlike Temari, he seemed as though she could talk to him without him verbalizing annoyance.

"There is not much to hunt in the desert, but as long as you do not hurt the villagers or steal it is fine." He wished they would have had this conversation in his office, compared to the bath house. But without many people around, she seemed more forward.

"I sleep with you?" She questioned uncertain if she was supposed to continue to sleep at his den, or if she could go back to her own. Gaara felt himself intenrally cringe - if she went around saying that...

"My house, yes, until we find you a more suitable place." He answered, clarifying. While they had decided that she was ok to wander the village, only a few of the ninjas and elders knew of the situation. He was certain that her keen senses and movements would cause new suspicion to rise up if she was not presented in a correct manner.

"And you need clothes." He added in the thought.

"I no need, I have." She responded. He looked her over carefully. She seemed relaxed in the water and was obeying him by staying down far enough so that it covered her. However, where ever she had come from it was ok for males and females to intermingle, and her clothing was considered acceptable.

"No, If you are going to stay in the village, you need new clothes." He informed her. Her clothing was not adequate.

Hearing his words, Youjoji jumped up and rose to her feet. Gaara covered his face with his hand and looked down at the water. His nose had started bleeding and he was annoyed both with her and himself. He should have known she would have misunderstood the words.

Youjoji laughed at his strange antics and tossed the towel at him. It fell over his head helping him to hide his eyes and cover up the scent of fresh blood. The smell made her want to go hunting, and seeing as how he was not comfortable with her bathing with him she figured she would go.

"I come sleep with you to sleep, ok 'Arrra?" She rolled the r turning it into a slight growl.

"You bleed easy." She laughed as she scampered to another room on the other side of the building. She wanted to go hunting now!

* * *

><p>Getting outside of their large wall and out into the sand was nice. Their village allowed her to come and go as she pleased for most of them would not even notice her. In the pack if you left to go hunting at least one would notice and four or five would wish to come with. It was impossible to find quiet or to do something alone. She always had puppies whining, birds chirping, wolves conversing, and other noise. Out in the sand she found it be quiet and open. The sand stuck to her feet, but she had shaken off most of the water on her torso, head, and arms. Smiling, she caught the scent of a canine.<p>

"_Greetings."_ She called after tracking the scent all the way out away from the village.

"_Stay away from our den human!"_ The wolf snapped his jaws. She gently blew hair out her nose and reached her hands out forwards. Two large black paws fell down into the sand. She crouched her large body down just enough so the fur on her stomach just barely touched the sand. Her dark brown eyes gazed at the desert canine. The black fur felt hot under the sun, but she did not mind.

"_I will stay back if that is what you ask." _ Her wolfish grin showed long sharp white teeth and a pink large tongue.

"_Wolf demon! My apologizes, you smelled human._" The canine lowered his head slightly to show respect.

"_I am trying to see what it is like to live as a human. It is a very hard task and I miss hunting._" She explained acknowledging his bow.

"_Why would a wolf as magnificent as you do such a thing?"_ He asked in utter shock.

"_I am a stray trying to find home… My brother is not my brother and my mother's dying wish was for me to go." _Her own words saddened her, but as true to a wolf she did not cry.

"_You may join with my pack if you wish. A hunter such as yourself would allow us to no longer fear the human groups who run us off from our scavenges._" He grinned at the thought of hunting humans.

"_You steal from humans?"_ She wanted clarification.

"_No, we wander land they have not claimed and they still run us off._" He sneered annoyed at the territory miscommunication which was occurring and injuring his pack's hunting ability.

"_I see they do not like others crossing their trails. Very bear like."_ She commented._ "I am hunting now, but I will share my kill with you, my new pseudo-alpha."_ She gave him a slight bow. While she was not about to join their pack having found a human village, she wanted to be able to have the familiar interactions.

"_Thank you, great one."_ He barked as she went on her way in the wolf form. With the large form and powerful build she could set herself into a low quick pace back into the grass lands where she had initially stalked up on food. Snake, scorpions, foxes, lizards, turtles, and even some desert frogs all were ignored as she came across their scent trail. After the gush of blood from 'Aarra's face she was in the mood for raccoon-dog.

* * *

><p>"Takeo! Takeo!" They chanted running after the small boy. They were two years older than him, but his own class was against him. It was because his uncle had attempted to assassinate the Kazekage. He hated his uncle who was supposed to be his father's brother and instead of helping his mother, he went after his own goals hurting them more. His mother had been protected by the Kazekage who saw no connection between the two in the plot, but he was alone.<p>

"Hi!" A taller figure jumped out of the shadows. The female body landed right in front of him. He was forced to stop and for a brief moment he panicked.

"Get the traitor!" A girl shouted running straight for the stopped boy. She jumped up and moved to kick his younger body. The female reached past the boy she stood in front of and gripped her foot. With a light movement she threw the girl back, making sure the child would land on her feet.

"Hi." She said again stepping out towards those who were running Takeo down. Youjoji grinned. They were going to accomplish nothing but wearing themselves out if they attempted to attack her.

"Hey!" A boy shouted this time trying to punch her. Gently she spun the boy around and pushed him the other way. Ducking she avoided being hit by a sharp object before pushing another kid away.

"Ok, Takeo come." She grinned at him having pushed all the kids back. They muttered and made noises she did not understand. If she cared about them, she would have tried harder to listen, but the boy was her only real interest. Unlike wolves, she could only handle one human at a time. It was hard for her to understand them, and even harder for her to get them to understand her.

"Uh thank you." He said picking up his bag that he had dropped. "Is what they said true, are you a special op?" He asked his eyes hopeful.

"I… no say." She responded. It was the truth, she had decided upon entering the village she wasn't going to tell them what she was until she got a chance to see what it was like living in a human village.

"Do you think… do you think you can teach me?" Her eyes glanced down at his words. She was not sure what she was to think about since she did not know the word.

"What?" She asked.

"How to fight, how to do that?" He used his hand to gesture back to where they had come from. She wondered if he wanted to know how to stand up for himself, like she had learned how to play rough with her brother too.

"You want to know…" She started slowly.

"Yes." He chirped.

"You 'romise to try?"

"Yes!" He started to grin. Without his father, and being isolated from everyone else, Takeo had no one to teach him. He thought for a moment that this strong female special operative would be able to be there for him. He never wanted to tell his mom these things cause she would worry and be sad.

"I no know." She started. She did not know what was human, and wolves as well as wolf-demons did not fight the same at all.

"Please, I can't tell my mom. She can't know. Please. I'll try. I will do anything. I will do what ever you want. Please. I want to make my family proud again." He begged.

"But, you help me too." Her words caught his attention. "I want to... 'alk, Know more. To say." She smiled.

"You are a foreigner?" He asked confused.

"You say yes?" She asked ignoring his question that she did not understand.

"Yes, sure! I will help you to talk! So you will help me?" He asked, with excitement in his voice.

"Go there when sun up and dark." She pointed to the training grounds they had just come from. "K?"

"Ok!" He said with a grin.

"Bye Shi'ka" She nodded to the woman who had come for the small boy. The sun was now setting and Youjoji was tempted to go back to the canines out in the desert. Their warm fur would give her comfort, and their sleeping bodies would rise and fall with hers.

Youjoji wandered around the village watching the humans put themselves to bed, go into lighted buildings, or walk together in pairs. Some of the people were loud, others spoke softly to each other and then there were some who stayed quiet. 'Arra was apart of the third group. He stood up on the roof, overlooking the village. The way he acted made her think he was the male alpha, if humans had such things. Successfully, she had avoided his watch but had it been light out she was certain it would have been a much harder task. The darkness and long pitch black shadows gave her cover.

He stood there, his eyes were not really searching for anything and he was not really relaxing either. Slowly she moved up so that she would appear to his front right. She was still a bit hesitant about the humans, especially human adults but her mother's dying wish still rung in her mind.

"Hi." She spoke softly. His eyes said hello though his lips did not move. He resumed looking over the village as she ventured closer.

"That is Jiro." She pointed to a man walking down below them with a smile. "Yes?"

"Yes. He is a sand ninja." He responded.

"That is Hana." Her hand shot over to point to a woman carrying bags out from a closing grocer.

"She has two children." He commented. Normally he had no one to talk to about the villagers. He took it on as his responsibility to care about them, but neither his brother nor sister took any interest. The ninjas all had their own tasks, and while they each knew a few people intimately, no one knew a little about everyone like he had done. However, while he had made it his job to know something about every villager, to not outcast anyone, he did not make the relationships the others seemed to have, even as Kazekage. He could not complain though, he had formed the bonds he always had wanted.

"Two?" Youjoji allowed herself to chirp in surprise. "A girl and?"

"A boy, he's older than his sister."

"Bigger?"

"Yes."

"Like me. My brother bigger, very strong, no nice or good but I like him." Gaara turned his head in her direction for the first time in their short conversation. Her tone showed compassion for this brother of hers.

"Where is he? Your brother?" He asked hoping this was the key to her past.

"Home with mate and grandfather and others."

"Why did you leave your family?" He was slow in his questions allowing a lot of time to pass between them.

"Mother say go."

"She did not like you?" He asked remembering his own mother's hate for him, having died and telling his uncle that he was a monster.

"Mother like I. Mother want me to human, to 'ry, to see." She responded watching the village with him. Her voice was quiet like the night. He heard what she said, but assumed she meant similar to what she said when she first entered the village. That she wanted to see how villagers lived, using the word humans for villagers. At least, this is what he assumed to be true.

"Is she with your family back home too?" He asked.

"No, she dead." Silence rolled between them. Gaara decided he would ask no more questions for he was certain she would not want to talk anymore. Youjoji allowed the silence to pass for awhile. It was curious to her that the silence was even quieter about him now. It made her wonder.

"You mother?" She asked making light conversation again.

"Died in child birth." He answered coolly. She knew instantly it was not a good topic to learn how to converse with.

"But, you have brother and sister too right? T'em'ari and Ka-ku-ro?" She grinned.

The slight dilation of his pupils told her that she was correct. Though he did not express much, she could guess he was wondering how.

"Smell, you smell like same." She explained for him. He nearly smiled. He should have guessed from her other keen senses that she had shown.

Youjoji looked at him carefully. While he did smell human that she could detect enough of the scent to tell his relatives, he smelled mostly of sand. Slowly she moved towards him, curiosity moving her again. Gently she brought her hand up to his face. While he looked perplexed at her, he did not move. Running her hand down his face her question was answered. Sand rolled up in her hand as she rubbed the fingers together. Jumping back she grinned before blowing it away.

"Human tricks." She told him with a proud grin before turning to go back to where she slept.

She did not go down through the bottom area like he had taken her through last night, but instead she jumped back up straight into the small area (window). The entryway was closed. She had to balance on the small ledge as she pried the clear solid sheet open. Happy with her success both with entering her small human made den and figuring out why Aarrra smelled funny, she jumped into bed. Yuki's gift was there right were it belonged. She had ran back between baths to put it away during the time that T'mari left.

"Hissssss." Snake disliked her jumping on the bed where he was curled up for the night. Smirking she noticed that he had a bulge in him. He too had gone hunting. She stared at his stripped pattern with her head against the bed,

"_Before I go back, I'll at least teach that boy how to be strong._" She told him, it had now been about a week since she entered the village.

* * *

><p>"Ok, what is?"<p>

"It's a test so I can become a ninja! I have two more years until they have it again." Takeo answered with a grin.

"A test." She repeated the word she had learned last week.

Every morning and evening she taught Takeo how to fight and he helped her learn new words and about humans. After the morning training she went to help Mr. Hajoh who no longer yelled too much at her. He even allowed her to help him make food. It turned out that what was in the barrel was stuff that by itself was not editable but with some human manipulation it turned into actual food. The old man also got her to help other men once he noticed her strength. She then spent the rest of the day working with square stones called bricks, making walls, carrying bins, and breaking things. They fed her for her work and while they wanted her to go out with them afterwards, she always went back to meet up with Takeo. She always met Aarra on the roof to at least tell him good night to show her respect and gratitude for allowing her to stay so easily.

"I knew it!" The girl who had attempted to attack her two weeks ago appeared under the moonlight.

"You are helping him!" Her voice was accusing.

"Why is a special operative like you helping a traitor?" A boy asked. Takeo's demeanor stiffened and his eyes started show that he was getting upset.

"I like Takeo, I think he is good. Soon Nin'ja too." She smirked and her eyes dared them to try anything. They were just silly puppies who had not been taught how to play with other pack members.

"We are going to be great ninjas too! You should teach us!" Another boy spoke enthusiastically.

"Yeah, I'm going to be the next Kazekage, it's only natural that I be taught by a special operative." A third boy added.

"Ask Takeo, he say if I teach you." She turned her head to the once bullied boy and gave him a nod. Giving him the power would help her see or direct what type of hunt leader he was and could be. Her eyes scanned the group of children who had found them, her words had sunk in all around. Happy with the situation, she turned to give Takeo room to make his decision.

Though she could hear the children from where she sat away from them, she was too far to understand them clearly. There was some yelling, some whispering, some pleading, but she did not know what Takeo had decided. The boy came over to her alone, while the children all looked solemn behind them. Their body language showed they were reluctant to leave and had a mix of emotions displayed from sad, to guilt, to anger.

"I told them no." He informed her proudly. Youjoji nodded her head slowly. She knew she should have expected that, so she decided to see if he was set on such a pack splitting decision.

"Ooooh." She elongated out the word allowing herself to seem to be sad.

"You like them?" He asked shocked at her reaction.

"I think it be fun and nice. And with more, I learn more… you learn more. See… it make I strong." She explained Her eyes watched his face closely. He was processing her words. He stated many times that he wanted to be strong, that he wanted to be like her, that he wanted to help his mother, and he wanted to be like the Kazekage. Now, she wanted to see how much he wanted those things verses his dislike and biases.

"I'll be right back." He told her quickly as he turned around. He ran towards the leaving group of children.

"Hey guys, you guys, wait!" He told them hoping that Eriko would be happy with his new choice and that the bullies would work with him.

"Ok!" An energetic boy ran towards her with the others right behind. She saw that Takeo stood off a bit from their group. "I'm Kane." He told her. He had brown eyes and blonde hair.

"I'm Teek." He was the tallest of the group and his long black hair concerned her for it would be easy for a predator to grab it to catch him.

"Aiko." The girl spoke with a strong voice.

"Danno." Another tall boy spoke. He was not as tall as Teek was, but he was fuller in build.

"I am Eriko." She nodded her head towards each of them. "You know Takeo."

"So you will train us too then?" Aiko asked her eyes hard upon the older female. The woman's dark eyes glanced over to Takeo.

"She's a foreigner, so I help her with our language and she teaches me. It's not like training though. She doesn't have me do the same moves over and over, I do that on my own. It's more like practice fighting." He explained.

"A real foreigner?" Kane exclaimed. Takeo nodded his head for her.

"Ok, show me." She told them, using a word she had learned eight days ago. It turned out to be useful not only with Takeo but anyone else she had stumbled upon. The men who she helped during the day showed her how to pound small tree branches and round stones into holes to hold together larger pieces. She often wondered how humans made the things they did, and now she knew.

She rose up and placed a foot out like Takeo often did before fighting. She found it a pointless move, for what if she wanted to go left, right, or back. With that position, she would need to shift her weight first. Even so, since it was human children, she put her body like he often did.

"All of us?" The girl asked.

"All or One." She responded with a smile.

Though it was dark, she could see clearly. Shadows told her exactly where everyone stood. The wolf demon packs had come from eight weak demons. Two were of the forest, two of the snow, two ran with the winds, and the last two lived in the mountains. Tens of Hundreds of thousands of years ago, they had hunted with their own pack of normal wolves. Breeding with the wolves, mingling with the humans, and going back to the packs changed the demon blood line. Now there was just four packs. Souta's, Huyu's, Tomo's, and her brothers, however among all the thinning lines of demon blood, there was no other wolf who knew of the shadows. No other wolf had her type of blood.

* * *

><p>"HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU TO NOT USE THAT POT!" Hajoh screamed at her. She bit her teeth together hard at his voice, it was so loud.<p>

"For me, It for me." She explained once he stopped yelling.

"Cook in the back then! I have customers!" He yelled at her. Using the random piece of fabric he had around, she moved the pot with a joking glare. He was all bark, lots and lots and lots of very loud bark, but little to no bite.

"Cost'mars, cost'mars." She mimicked with a grin as she put together food in the back. Half the time the food that she made did not cook right and stayed in it's rock gross form.

"CUSTOMERS, ERIKO DO YOUR J OB!" Came a yell with the correct pronunciation of the word. She rolled her eyes and jumped back into the restaurant. Picking up the bowls she quickly served the correct people. All Hajoh had to do was put the food where the person's hand was when ordering, and she would pick it up instantly. The only time she messed up was when he cooked them out of order for people who placed their hands in the same spot.

"Here, Here." She grinned as she served a ninja girl named Matsuri along with many other females. Unknown to the ninja girl, she had watched her several times. The girl was often on night duty and was interesting with her expressions.

"Did you see the Kazekage today watching the training grounds?" A female asked. With three weeks having now passed, she could understand more. However, though she usually was very good with names, Thekazekage was someone who she could not place a face to though she had heard of him or her many times before.

"Wasn't he rapturous?" Another girl commented with desire in her eyes. She was confused for those expressions were things wolves often expressed towards a savory prey they were about to take down.

"Yes…" Matsuri sighed. Though she had become a ninja she was not any closer to her former sensei. Her light eyes glanced up to notice a dark hair dark eyed girl.

"I've seen you help Ryo's kids." One of Matsuri's friends commented to the girl. Met with questioning eyes, she elaborated. "Aiko, Teek…" She mentioned the first names that came to her mind.

"Yes, I help them." She smiled down at the female gracefully taking an empty dish.

"Are you an instructor?" A girl asked her. She had a metal band about her arm.

"No, I help, no more." She explained as she moved back to the place she was to take the empty dishes.

Her food was just starting to burn. Quickly she put out the fire, careful not to burn herself again. From her scent, she knew she already liked Matsuri. The girl was expressive, trying to be strong, and interesting. The other girls confused her with their desire towards a person as if they wanted to devour this Thekazekage.

She cleaned the dishes with as little water as possible as she had been taught by Hajoh. The girls were giggling and laughing. While the children made her smile and smirk, it has been awhile since she laughed. Wolves did not laugh very often.

"Ma'suri?" She called after the girl now that her friends had separated from her. The ninja who was just as tall as her turned around.

"Uh, yes?" She responded.

"Can… Can you help Takeo?" Her eyes narrowed slightly as she thought of the words Takeo had used. Him and the others had come very far, but he wanted to know how to throw the Kouni and other weapons better. The only thing Youjoji normally threw was bodies and that was not the same at all.

"Help?" She repeated.

"Tonight." Youjoji nodded her head with the word she learned just in this new week. "Help with throw. I no't good." She explained.

"I don't have night watch…" Matsuri mentally went over everything she could think of that was going on tonight. Seeing no reason why she could not do it, she nodded her head. "So, sure."

"Th'ank you." She gave a half bow. If the girl taught Takeo how to throw the small sharp objects, maybe she could pick it up as well.

"Takeo do it again except don't force it so hard, and Aiko you have the right idea just need a bit more strength." Matsuri commented. It was slightly difficult for her to see at night so she stood close to those she was trying to help. Every other day for a week since Eriko asked her, she helped with the children. There was a group of ten, Takeo, Aiko, Teek, Danno, Kane, Yuri, Akunen, Rin, Son, and Kimoiri.

"Rin you are curving it too the right too much, Danno watch how much you are moving your arm." Matsuri continued, copying her previous sensei Gaara-sama and the others who had taught her growing up.

Eriko kept it so that half would work with her, and half with the other. Usually they just tried to attack the other girl who would easily correct their motions, or lightly spar with them. Sometimes the girl would slowly move them through a new move, but usually she just corrected their own styles. It was hard for Matsuri to not notice that Eriko was a skilled fighter though she used no technique. The dark haired girl had no trouble seeing in the dark it seemed, and she always ended and started the group at the same time though she wore no watch.

"Yuri good, same Kane." The girl's voice was soft but clear. She did not speak very much with the large group, unless it was a one on one conversation with others around.

"Hurt?" Matsuri watched her ask Akunen out of the corner of her eye. The boy had tried a second kick while his foot was still caught in Eriko's grasp. She too was worried that the boy had twisted his foot, but the girl seemed to have adjusted her grip such that she neither injured him nor let go.

They each ran the kids through a few more practices. Matsuri did normal repetitive training working on their throws and jutsus, while Eriko let them just do whatever they wanted making physical corrections from time to time. Finally, as normal, Eriko smiled and stated it was time for sleep. Some of the children groaned sadly while others sighed in relief. They all quickly dispersed to their homes. She had noticed that when a new child arrived, usually they were met with contempt by the others and then everyone would warm up to each other. The bond was generally built around their practices with Eriko for there was something about all of them losing together against a single person at the same time that formed a friendship.

"Ma'suri. You strong." She commented as normal with a grin. "Come again?" She asked.

"Yes, of course. I was thinking maybe I would see Takeo take the test so he can get his headband. You going to come watch as well?" It was easy to see that Takeo had taken to the girl, though she did not know their exact relationship.

"No, You go, you good and you know more. You are nin'ja." The girl smiled before waving good bye. Matsuri was curious to where she lived, but every attempt to follow the girl once she ducked into the shadows was a failure.

It was obvious she was not a ninja from the fact that she had no metal head band, but Matsuri still had to wonder if she wasn't a special operative or something. The children all seemed bent on the idea that she was a foreigner who came to the village on a special under cover assignment as a special op. They told each other stories about how she would survive in the wilderness and desert hunting for her food and digging up her own water. Some of the stories seemed reasonable, while others were most certainly fables they made up to fill in the blanks Eriko herself was not answering to.

"Goodnight." Matsuri called into the darkness knowing the girl was already gone. Helping with the children, made her wonder if maybe she should try to be a teacher. Gaara had once been her sensei and definitely had helped inspire her to be who she was. She wondered if she could do the same. She had picked her current position because she believed it would get her closer to Gaara, but now she was not so sure if that was what she wanted. The children who came to practice together before dusk always made her smile, and sometimes it was starting to be the time of day she looked forward to the most.

The older children who already had their headband, waited outside with her. Matsuri watched as Takeo, Rin, and Kimoiri went in with their class. It was obvious to her now that other than the friends he had made from the practices, Takeo was outcasted from the group. Kane and Aiko reluctantly admitted that they too bullied the boy because his uncle had attempted to assassinate the Kazekage. At first thought she resented him as well, however Eriko's carefree attitude towards him showed that he was just a normal child.

"Good luck!" She called to them, catching the attention of their instructor Ryo. He gave her a slight smile.

She remembered being told that Gaara at one time had been isolated from everyone he knew. Not because of the actions of his uncle, but because he had a demon within him. Several times she wondered if she would have befriended him if she was in the same class, and if he had not attempted to talk to her first. Usually she told herself that she would have. In being a sensei to Takeo she felt that maybe that was actually true.

Matsuri felt anxious as she waited for the results. She remembered the test herself, but having been kidnapped and see Gaara's fight, she had gained confidence she did not have before. She wondered if Takeo, Rin, or Kimoiri were as anxious as she was. Rin was a short girl with long strawberry blonde locks. She was good with her Jutsus but her fighting technique was poor along with her confidence. Kimoiri (called Ki for short by most of the others) knew everything very well but could not execute it under pressure.

Right as Matsuri was pondering how long she could hold her breath, the students came out. She noticed a few who did not receive headbands walking away slowly with a sad pace. Her heart went out to them, and she thought about catching them to tell them about the practice. But then, if Rin, Kimoiri, and Takeo did not pass, what was there to tell? Her eyes searched for the three.

"Matsuri! Matsuri!" Takeo's voice called her attention to his short hand being waved in the air. Around his forehead was a metal plate with the symbol for the sand village. Behind him stood Rin, the girl's hazel eyes caught her own and she grinned grasping her own plate about her neck, the same location Matsuri wore hers. The older girl smiled at the sight. With her sensei's smile she ran to see her father and mother. Kimoiri was next to Takeo heading towards his parents. He too wore a metal plate, except he had put it about his arm.

"Matsuri!" Takeo called again, this time uncertain. She gave the boy a large grin, and raised her hand. Instead of running to a mother, a father, or any relative, he ran to her.

"Do you see it!?" He asked excitedly.

"Yes, you did a good job. Where's your mother or father?" Matsuri asked.

"My dad's gone and my mother is working." He answered honestly. She remembered how she too had no mother or father to run to after receiving her own, but she did have someone. At that moment, Matsuri realized she was the someone he was going to.

"How about we go out to eat to celebrate till your mom gets off?" She asked smiling.

"Can I come to? I'll buy." An older male voice joined their conversation. Matsuri looked up to see a tan tall man. He had dark brown hair which had highlights of red. His golden brown eyes smiled at her. "You must be the girl who has been helping Takeo." He held out his hand in greeting.

"Yes she did!" Takeo responded before she could correct him.

"I'm Matsuri." She accepted his hand and shook it once firmly.

"Ryo." He flashed another grin. She knew who he was; he was a talented ninja instructor who took on the task of training some of the younger students. While he was a few years older than her, his smile was still very youthful.

"Thank you for helping him." He told her, before glancing down to the boy. "Now let us all go celebrate, aye?" He cheered causing Takeo to throw up his hands.

"YEAH!"

* * *

><p>Eriko ran through the shadows to get back. Aiko and Ki had told her that the children were not going to practice tonight. Going about her way she picked up the scent of Matsuri and Takeo. There was also another male scent among them. Curious, she took a quick detour. The three where leaving a food shop and smiling. The new male stood half a foot taller than her and Matsuri. He was well built and dark in skin tone from the sun. He had red-brown hair and light brown eyes with specks of gold in them. His body language was attuned to Matsuri and Takeo. Matsuri was smiling and Takeo seemed to be extremely happy.<p>

Another shadow approached the three. Though she had not seen it very often, she recognized both the body and the scent. Shika, Takeo's mother, was walking towards the small group.

"Mom, look mom!" Takeo ran up to the older woman excitedly. He was pointing to the new metal band he wore about his forehead.

"Oh wow, you did it." She smiled kindly to him and then looked up at man.

"Ryo, thank you for taking care of my son and helping him." She bowed to him.

"It wasn't just me, Matsuri here seems to have been helping after class." He pointed to Matsuri with a grin.

"Oh, Uh…" Matsuri responded uncertain.

"Well thank you Matsuri." The woman bowed again towards the female ninja.

"Yeah, she helped me with my Kouni and Jutsus!" Takeo explained happily causing Ryo and his mother to smile.

"It was really no problem." Matsuri humbly admitted.

"Well, we need to get going… It's nearly Takeo's bedtime, and I'm glad to see the girl he has been talking about is you Matsuri." The woman smiled.

"No, it's not just her mom! The girl is Eri!" Takeo exclaimed. Shika looked to Matsuri for clarification.

"It's true. Eriko is the one who started helping the students. She asked me to join." She explained feeling small as she admitted the truth.

"Yeah, and you helped me with my jutsu which allowed me to pass!" Takeo added with a child's smile.

"I'm glad you passed, Takeo. You did good." Ryo added in ending the conversation. Takeo's mother nodded her head and grasped her son's shoulders in pride. The mother and son then said goodbye and left the two ninjas.

"Thank you again. He had been bullied pretty heavily up to a couple weeks ago, and it was seeming like the more I tried to help him the worse it got. So, thank you." Ryo smiled kindly at the girl who had helped his student.

"I really did not do very much…" Matsuri admitted shyly. Ryo's smile was really kind and she felt bad for receiving it.

"Even a little can go a long way." He responded gently touching her hand briefly.

"Well… goodnight." With a nod of his head he turned away from her. His eyes had briefly locked with Matsuri's before he did. His back was broad and strong. He walked slowly with a graceful strength despite a very slightly limp on his left side.

Matsuri did not breathe. While the Kazekage was the most sought after by all the girls and had been her first love, Ryo was known for his gentle kind and determined spirit. He had the body of a rebel, but the heart of a puppy-dog, or so they said. She could easily see why. Many of the older female ninjas who still saw the Kazekage as a demon or a kid, looked to Ryo, Kankuro, or Jiro as their crush.

She loved Gaara. Over and over in her mind, she told herself that she loved Gaara, and she was the best one for him. No one else could understand him like she did, for he was once her sensei.

Ryo's figure disappeared in the night, and Matsuri inhaled. Eriko, having witnessed the small exchange of body language knew nothing of the two's thoughts, nor did she understand some of the conversation. She was just happy to see Takeo with strong friends and mentors. Her dark eyes returned to her trail; she was following 'Aarrra's scent.

He was not upon the roofs. It had been over a whole moon cycle since she came to the human village, and he was the first one who met with her and one of the few people she actually intimately interacted with. The list was very short, Takeo, Hajoh, and Aarra. Matsuri within in a few weeks along with some of the other children may be added, but she had yet to decide that. She had yet to decide if she really wanted to stay. Several parts of her were resistant to this village. She had not howled to her brother since she left, and while she went hunting, she was never in a pack. She did not want to like the village anymore.

She went into the same building she had gone into in following the scent of her blanket a week after she first arrived. Quietly she navigated the long den corridors staying out of sight of the ninjas who walked through it. She was not certain if she could explain to them what she wanted, so instead she just went around them. They would not be able to stop her unless she allowed them too.

"Thank you for the tea, you are dismissed." Aarra's voice seemed tired to her. She did not open the door, but instead waited. There were two people in the room. One was Aarra, the other smelled female. Sliding back she hid as the woman came out.

"Well, if you need anything please call me." The woman's voice was smooth and soft. She smelled like flowers as if she was not human at all. Her nose twitched at the scent.

"Alright." Aarrra commented back. She snuck in as the woman shut the door. Her eyes looked up to see Aarra working with flat thin tree bark squares. Hajoh called them paper. He seemed more tired than normal. She wondered what it was that made it so he no longer slept in the same den as her, or go to the roofs. This question had made her follow his trail when she found out the children would not be there this night.

"I thought…" He started, but stopped when he looked up. Instead of seeing one of the female ninjas or secretaries that he had been dismissing left and right, he saw Eriko. The girl was filthy, again. Her hair stuck up every which direction, and her black clothes that she stubbornly continued to wear were covered in sand along with every other place on her body. He frowned slightly at her appearance, but then sighed. He had bigger things to worry about than how she looked, and compared to the others she was not as troublesome.

Her eyes stared at him waiting for the rest. Her body did not move from the crouched position that she had used to sneak in with.

"Never mind." He informed her.

He looked exhausted and looking at him made her tired. Slowly she rose up. She did not want to make him any more tired than he already was. Curious she went towards the table as Hajoh called them, though this one was a different shape. Papers were everywhere across the desk with lots of black lines on them. He had a feather in hand and on the tip of it was black. She knew of no animal that bleed black blood, so she was confused. It did not help that it did not smell of blood either. She had no idea what he was doing, but she wanted to help him, for he had given her a place to sleep.

Gaara noticed her movements, but kept most of his attention on the papers. The village was running low on water, and even if he sent the ninjas out he was not certain if they would be able to bring enough back. It did not help that new leadership had gone in place in the area's where they got their water from, and the demands of trade this time were nearly unreasonable for the situation. It seemed like no matter what option he went with, the village would be in trouble either because of the trade, lack of man power left, lack of water, lack of finances, or any combination of them.

He sighed again. The water trouble was not the only problem he had to deal with. There were several issues among ninjas groups that needed to be reviews, a few problems with elders, and the new students needed to be at least looked at since the reports had come in and it was his responsibility as well to know them. Gaara also needed to change the roles of several people so that they might get a chance for some diversity, as well as find new secretaries since his own were causing fights with other girls. He was certain that the more papers he went through the more he needed to do, and the back up on work all started with the water issue which exponentially grew due to the elders' concern and the new leadership with their trade partners.

Suddenly Eriko opened his window and left. A cooler night breeze entered the office. It was not strong enough to disturb his work, but it did help relax him a little. He assumed she got bored with him and left to go asleep. The first week she stayed at the house, her second week at the village, she would find him on the roof before going to sleep. Sometimes she would try to converse with the few words she knew, other times she would just say good night. The second week at the house, her knowledge of words seemed to have increased and her confidence in talking, at least to him, was much greater. However, he started to get busy about the same time. He found it no surprise that she had tried to track him down after many nights of him not free from the office.

"Ok." She announced at her return, her blanket in hand.

Gaara looked behind him to see she had jumped back up into the office. He internally smiled wondering just how many would be upset to find out someone was easily surpassing security.

She looked over to see that his eyes had already returned to the papers. He looked even more tired than before she had left, if that was possible. She wondered if the papers were a human trick sucking the energy out of them as if they were predators. She could not see the thin pieces of bark as predators; however they were the cause of his tiredness. She inhaled slowly mentally looking inward. She was strong and well fed. She had enough energy and she trusted him enough. Or at least, like many of the other humans, she liked him enough to not mind giving him the chance to poison or hurt her. She dared to hope that he would be one of the few who did not, but she was not stupid. She would probably end up half dead, sick, or slightly injured as normal.

"You tired, need no tired." She spoke to him placing her blanket on the ground. Snake, bulging with the huge meal she had just given him, quickly slid into the small den the table created. Seeing it, she kicked the blanket towards that area as much as she could without disturbing him.

"I need to work." He commented, hoping she was not going to end up like all the others. He did not want to waste the energy of kicking her out, and then keep her out if need be.

"Sleep?" She questioned, looking at him closely from the side.

"I can not, this is my responsibility. You should go." He told her, his eyes glancing up to meet her dark ones.

"I help, ok?" She did not have the words to tell him what she was about to do. The truth was she had never done it to a human before, but she once saw her mother do it to them. It was the wolf-pack ritual that fed those who stayed with the puppies.

"You can not." Gaara informed her. He doubted he could read, and he knew the new leaders would not care to talk with someone who did not even speak correctly.

"Stay." She appeared crouched on his desk as she spoke the word. She was up on her toes, careful not to touch his papers. Her face was two inches away from his

"Stay" She repeated.

Gaara did not want to mess around with her, however he also did not want her to disturb the work he had already done. While at the moment she was not touching them, he was not certain if she would kick them the moment he tried to move her. He decided the first chance he got he would take her off the desk and hold her up in her room. His village was in trouble and it was his responsibility to take care of it, he did not have time for her games.

He was going to try to move her the first chance he got. While he did not voice it and his body did not express it, his eyes told her he did not want her there. Quickly she leaned forward so that her forehead was near his, her nose was nearly touching his, and her hand was gently on the side of his face. It worked better if she could use her mouth, but she was certain that if she did, he would have shove her away thinking that she was going to bite his lips or something.

Gaara was about to remove her the moment her hand touched his face. She was a distraction, and it was inappropriate. However, suddenly, an onslaught of chakra entered him through his head and chest. He stopped feeling tired as more and more chakra entered his body through the points that hers was close to. It was as if she was giving him every bit of chakra she had, and for a moment, he wondered if she was going to kill herself in doing it. Finally, she inhaled as she pulled away. Now she was the one who looked exhausted.

"Den mates feed each other. You no need sleep now, I need." Her voice was faint.

She gave a weak smile and hoped down beside him. Instead of standing, she pretty much fell to the floor. He pushed his chair back to see. She rolled her body up in the blanket of hers and curled up under the desk. A hiss came and the snake's bulging body appeared. He curled up moving away from the girl who had nearly smashed him with her weight.

"Thank you." He stated feeling strange for saying it. She did not seem to care if it was said or not.

"Say to Mrrrr Hajoh and lil' Takeo, I sleep. When sun up say to 'em I can'no help 'em, 'Leze?" Her body did not move and her voice was even quieter, but she spoke nonetheless.

"I will." He told her glancing at her body. She had purposely gotten her blanket knowing she was going to pass out here. He thought the least he could do was move her back to her bed. With all her chakra he felt as though he would not need to sleep tonight, maybe even for the next few days if he wanted to. She had a huge amount of chakra, equal to or greater than his own.

Youjoji jerked herself awake and thrusted her tired body into motion. Her knees were forced to bend as her legs hit the sand hard. Crouching with one hand to support her weight, she tried to make sense of the situation. She had just given all her chakra to 'Aarra and passed out near him. Sadness bit at her, as she was forced to admit he attacked her.

Gaara transported himself to where she had fallen. Out of the blue, she had kicked out of the sand carrier and plummeted to the ground. he stopped, her tired eyes glared at him. It was not an angry expression, but it was a glare. They were half way between the short distance of his office and her bed. He heard her growl.

"_I'm so stupid. I can hear brother saying 'I keep telling you' again.._" She growled out. Giving him so much of her energy was a huge risk, one she had never actually taken before. He just felt so drained that once she started she didn't have the heart to stop. Now she cursed herself.

"Again?" She asked gritting her teeth into a snarl to show him that even though she was weak, she was not going to go down easy.

Gaara did not respond. For some reason, she seemed angry almost. He was confused and did not know what would be the best action to take.

"Why again?" She asked him again more to herself than him. "I play nice, I 'elp, you all be nice… but it tricks, human tricks." She was so exhausted she could barely understand herself as she talked. She had no idea if she was growling it out or speaking like a human.

"I no do, I no say, I do no thing, and you 'oison me, hurt me, try to kill me, and try to eat me… why? I want… I want… I just want to see..." She could not stand. She was going to have to let him attack and then the first moment she got with him or any of them in range, she would need to bite. She would be forced to devour them if she wanted to survive their attacks.

"_Why?"_ She cursed herself as she passed out again. Her body would awaken at any sharp pain, and she would bite out at them if she needed strength. She was a hunter, she could easily hunt them for strength no matter what state she was in.

Gaara could not believe her words. They echoed in his mind as he put her back where she had initially passed out. He did not try to move her back to the bed, for he was certain she thought the move to be an attack, however it caused him to learn a lot, and he was bothered by it. He wondered how many times she had been poisoned, hurt, or attacked that she so quickly assumed he was attacking her in her sleep. The reports of her glaring at those who gave her food suddenly made sense, along with her not trusting people making her go first to new locations.

She awoke with a start, nearly hitting her head on the strange table. The snake was not present to hiss at her this time. Glancing around, she found herself confused, again. She remembered distinctly giving him a lot of her energy, after which she remembered her Hajoh and Takeo, ending with her asking him to inform them for her. However, she was certain, well semi-certain she had been attacked by him – but she was not hurt, she did not feel sick, and she as in the same location she passed out in. Maybe it was just a dream, or a misunderstanding. Either way, she had not been attacked and was now tired, but awake.

"Aarra?" She called out hesitantly.

The door opened.

Instead of saying his name again or moving she waited. She did not smell his scent and the shadow was wrong.

"I thought I heard something." Came a female voice. Staying still, she did not move. The door shut as she curled herself back up. She needed more sleep before she could get herself out of the room.

At least it smelled like him, she thought as she passed out for the second or third time, for which she was not sure.

Initially he was just going to send out ninjas with her message for Yamaguchi Takeo, son of Yamaguchi Shika, and Hajoh Iwao, however after last night he felt it was the least he could to deliver the message himself. She had given him so much chakra that it allowed him to catch up on many of the problems and reports he had been behind on.

"Yamaguchi Shika?" He asked the woman who answered the door. He was surprised to see the woman with long amber hair and light hazel eyes. She and a child had been the only people to attend a funeral for a man who had been killed in his assassination attempt. While Gaara was not actually involved in the confrontation, he had been the target. He knew the man's family name was Yamaguchi, but he had assumed that with the other Yamaguchis in the village the boy and his mother would have been unrelated.

"Oh, Kazekage!" She gave a deep bow surprised his appearance.

"Is your son present?" He asked glancing back into the small room one room apartment. The woman and her son obviously slept, ate, and lived in the living room slash kitchen. A curtain blocked most of his view of a small bathroom.

"Oh… no. He is probably at the training grounds with Eri. Is something the matter?" She asked deeply concerned. Since her husband's brother had caused so much trouble, she had been working her best to clear their name and stay invisible from prying eyes.

"No, everything is fine. Thank you." He gave a slight nod before wrapping his sand around him. Vanishing from her sight, he landed in front of a boy who was sitting bored in the sand.

Takeo's eyes widened at the sight of the Kazekage's appearance. He was so strong and reserved. Takeo bet nothing bothered him and no one dared to bully him. The tall man's eyes locked on to the boy's position. Takeo glanced around; with not even Eriko present today, he was the only one who was there. For a moment, he allowed to let himself think the Kazekage was looking at him, but then he remembered that everyone was saying Eriko was a special operative. He was probably looking for her.

Gaara walked slowly towards the boy taking in his poor appearance. He wore clothes too large for him, and he had a few bruises and scrapes. The kid quickly rose to his feet and adjusted his clothing. He could see that he was excited and slightly skittish.

"If you are looking for Eriko, she is not here today. I don't know what happened, we always meet here but today she hasn't come yet." He explained nervously.

"I know, she wanted me to tell you she won't be here today. She might not be back for a few days." He informed the boy whose eyes went wide. The Kazekage had come to tell him, Takeo, something.

"Is that ok?" Gaara asked, uncertain if the boy had taken in the information.

"Yeah, of course! She's your special foreign operative isn't she? I mean of course she'll be busy… and won't have time" His voice started to become light and a sad tone came forward in it.

Takeo realized that being a special operative meant that she most likely would no longer be able to help him, or see him. He also thought that now Matsuri who had been asked by her, would no longer come, and then none of the other children would either. Everything would go back to the way it was before she jumped in and protected him from the bullies.

"She is really great, I'm glad she helped me when she could." The boy's eyes looked away. He did not want to cry in front of the kazekage.

"What was she doing with you?" He asked curious after seeing the kid so sad.

"She was helping us train. I mean being a foreigner, she doesn't know any of the jutsus or moves, but we could all attack her at once and she'd correct us all and defeat us. Also if we tried to figure out a new move, she could see why it wasn't working. Danno created this spin kick that even his sensei commented on because of her!" Takeo explained excitedly proud of the group.

"Who's we?" The kazekage asked.

"Uh…" Takeo paused. Suddenly he realized it was probably a bad thing that a special operative was messing around with a bunch of students and children.

"Just ten of us kids who want to be ninjas… maybe more. We aren't in trouble are we? Or she?" He asked worried, wringing his hands to settle his nerves.

"No. Where are the others?" He asked, confused to why the boy spoke of so many others but yet he was the only one here.

"Oh uh, we meet at night at seven-thirty about. Eriko starts us and she doesn't use a watch, but it's always about seven-thirty. I… uh… I… She's helping me special 'cause I get picked on a lot cause my uncle… he uh…." Takeo started to stutter. He was not certain on how to say that his uncle had attempted to kill the man who stood before him.

"I see then… keep up the good work." Gaara added the last part as an after thought. If the kid was being bullied, he probably did not have many friends. Gaara knew what it was like to be outcasted for something uncontrollable.

Takeo's eyes popped out of his head at the leaving Kazekage's words. HE had told HIM to keep up the good work! He could not contain his happiness. The Kazekage had stood before him and talked to him. Takeo use to worry that if he ever ran across the Kazekage that he would be mad at the boy for what his uncle had tried to do, but he wasn't. He was pleasant and he had told him to keep up the good work.

Takeo promised that he would work so hard that both the Kazekage and Eriko would be proud. Though, he wasn't sure who would be harder to please, the aloft Kazekage or the progressive but content-able Eriko.

Gaara wrapped the sand around him and transported himself across the village over to Hajoh Iwao's small restaurant. Hajoh Iwao was the last member of his family for both his son and his daughter had been killed in the war which occurred before Gaara's birth. The restaurant had been started by Iwao's great grandfather Hajoh Nagataka and had been passed down from family member to family member. Ninjas often ate there not only for a meal, but sometimes to try to over hear the elders of every generation who often gathered there. The Hajoh family was known for their cold blunt advice and straight arrow practices, however with no heir to interact with the new generation, Iwoa's restaurant business was drying out.

Carefully he pulled the curtain that covered the entrance in. Ducking he entered the restaurant. It was much smaller than what his father had gone to though Hajoh Iwoa was the owner at that time as well. It was obvious to see he was struggling with it. Gaara's eyes settled on a small very old man who as placing a pot on to a stove.

"We Are Not Open Yet." A gruff voice same from the frail frame.

"Hajoh Iwoa?" Gaara asked certain it was the man. The man looked up briefly at his name.

"Kazekage, I see… What brings you here?" He asked glaring at his ingredients as he placed them into the pot.

"I am bring a message from Eriko, she will not be able to help you for a few days." He stated clearly. He expected the man to nod his head in understanding like the boy had done, however the elder's eyes shot up and glared at him.

"YOU MEAN THAT GIRL IS TAKING DAYS OFF AFTER I FINALLY GAVE IN AND HIRED HER THOUGH I SPENT TWO WEEKS TELLING HER I DID NOT WANT HER HELP!? THAT ERIKO!?" He picked up a large metal spoon and ran about the kitchen counter coming towards the Kazekage in an angry hustle.

"Are you saying it's ok for someone to not be responsible for their work? Is that the message you have come here to tell me young man? That we should ignore what we have told others we would do?" His eyes saw Gaara not as the great Kazekage, but as a leader, a normal, every day, no different, leader.

"What about the four other jobs she has through me? Does she expect me to go around to them and tell them or find her a substitute to leave my already dying business here to rot? Moreover, does she really expect me not to hold her responsible just because she sends You, the Kazekage, to tell me she is skipping out of her responsibilities? And WHY EXACTLY are YOU here instead of HER?" His sharp tongue finally came to rest, finishing his rant. Gaara did not realize that Eriko had become so involved with the village in the month that she had been here, nor did he think for a moment that they would need someone to substitute for her absence.

"I apologize Mr. Hajoh." Gaara bowed deeply to show his genuine apology. Rising back to his full height, he met the old man's stare without hesitation or intimidation. "It is my fault that Eriko will not be here. That is the reason that I came to inform you and not her. I will provide you with able substitutes until she can return." He finished.

"Fine. But this is her first strike, three and she is gone…" Iwoa informed him adding a pause.

"AND…. I want able bodies, not none of your generation's "I don't care, I can't focus, I'm scared, I am over sensitive hoo-hah!" He barked.

Gaara just nodded his head. He figured he would just send a strong ninja over to help the man and a few others for her other jobs…

"Did anyone enter while I was away?" He asked the swaying secretary.

"No one entered. I thought I heard someone in there, but when I went in there, there was no one." She swooned with her most seductive smile. She was positive that if she could just keep this job for a few more months she would get him to fall in love with her.

"Ok, thank you." He stated, though truthfully he was not thankful. His eyes had reacted slightly in hearing she had entered though he had informed her that no one was to enter the office. Worse though was the thought that Eriko had left. Last night she could barely stand and was rambling nearly incoherently in her exhaustion. Though he had not forced her to give her chakra to him, he felt at fault.

Entering the office, he saw that it looked like no one was there. He started to wonder where she might have gone as he walked around the desk. There was no sign of the blanket nor the snake as he started about the corner. Pulling the chair away to allow more light to enter under the desk, he saw a light tan bump. She was still under his desk now with the blanket pulled tight around her. He could not tell where her head was or her feet for entire body was curled into a tight ball with all her limbs tucked inwards.

A knock came at the door, telling him he needed to sit down and get back to business as being the Kazekage.

"Enter." He informed who ever it was, hoping it was not a secretary but someone he actually needed to see him.

"Kazekage, I brought this for you." Suki, a message girl, ducked in to the room carrying a large plate followed by Chinatsu and Takara. They were all carrying dishes or pitchers with a glass on top. Quickly he took out a piece of paper. At least if they were here, he could have them deliver the message that ninjas needed to be assigned to Mr. Hajoh and anyone else that was supposed to be help by Eriko.

"I brought you camel's milk and flat bread." Chinatsu spoke up gracefully reaching his desk first by slipping past the shorter Suki. She set both items down on his desk, though Gaara looked to make sure she did not place them on important papers he did not otherwise respond.

"I brought you dried meat, vegetables, and cactus." Takara used her body to push Chinatsu aside putting down the plate. "And tea." She added with her best smile. Gaara also noticed to see if she placed the dishes down on any of his papers.

"And I have rice balls, soybeans, and cooked chicken." Suki placed her large plate right down in front of him. He saw that the top of it touched some of his documents and the bottom of it was off the table. From his glance down, however, he also saw a few small fingers move up under it. The plate slowly started to creep just slightly towards him. Eriko had woken up and was attempting to take it without the girl's noticing.

"I heard you were up all night last night" Suki started.

"And I wanted to give you something to rejuvenate you." Chinatsu interrupted.

"I hope you like it, I made it especially for you, our Kazekage!" Takara finished.

"Thank you," Gaara spoke quickly, picking up the plate that Eriko was slowly moving before the girls noticed. With his other hand, he held out the documents to them.

"Take all these documents down, and tell them to talk to me if there are any problems." He distributed the numerous reports with both his hand and sand, placing the substitution missions he had just wrote up on top if each. He placed the plate down towards his lap, away from their line of sight and towards Eriko.

"Ok." He finished, not quite making it a question. Eriko caught on instantly. However instead of her taking the plate from him, like she was supposed to, he could feel her pick up pieces and eat off it as he held it.

"Ok, we won't let you down!" Suki grinned at him.

"Do you want documentation back?" Takara asked.

"It won't be needed." He answered.

"I'll be done with this in no time, don't you worry, Kazekage!" Chinatsu sounded as the three left, all stating their goodbyes numerous times.

He glanced down to see a nearly eaten plate of food. Gingerly he picked up a chicken gizzard, and ate it as Eriko quickly finished off the rest. He grabbed the plate of flat bread and handed it to her, this time making sure she took it from him. Pushing his chair back slightly, he looked down at her.

Eriko was wrapped in her blanket quietly devouring the flat bread without breaking it into pieces. Though she was sitting up, her body was hunched forward and she was still taking up as little space as possible containing her entire mass underneath his desk. Her eyes did not look at him or even her food. They seemed to gaze unseeingly at a spot on the floor until she needed to pick up another piece. It was not appropriate for her to be there, however, she had felt he had attacked her last night and that bothered him, especially since he use to attack people quite often for no reason other than to prove his life existed.

"Last night…:" He started, causing her dead eyes to dash up to meet his own. They changed from exhausted and tired to semi-interested.

"I am sorry." He apologized. Her eyes clouded with confusion instantly and she swallowed the food in her mouth. Instead of taking another bite she paused.

"For?" She asked.

"Last night," He replied, wanting to remind her that she had thought he had panicked her. "I was just trying to move you to your bed and you were injured."

"It 'oison?" She asked suddenly with a tone of worry to her voice. In her tired state all she heard was sorry, last, injured and a reference to her. The only thing she could think of was that this was her last meal, a phrase humans often told her once they poisoned her.

"No, Not the food." He stated, but her eyes remained panicked as if he had poisoned her. Realizing he was going to have to show her, he reached forward towards the plate. He took a piece of the bread, broke it a smaller piece and then ate it before handing it back to her. He could feel her watching him very carefully as he chewed and swallowed.

"Last night, I moved you and scared you." He told her.

"I no' scared." She responded instantly. "I no know you want, but you no hurt me, it good…" Eriko smiled with a very innocent and naive smile. Her body swayed slightly and her eyes suddenly dashed away from his and her expression turned towards exhaustion again. For a brief moment Gaara thought she was about to pass out.

"Here." He gave her a cup of the tea and she stared at him for a moment.

"Last meal?" Her eyes looked sad as she glanced down at the cup. Gaara realized that she had thought 'last night' was 'last meal' and that was why she mentioned poison.

He sighed and took the cup from her hands. Taking a sip he looked down at her. She watched him carefully. When he stopped drinking, she grinned faintly. A knock came at his door and his eyes were forced to glance upwards. As the door opened he put the tea cup under his desk feeling her hands touch his as she took it.

"Kazekage." Baki called as he entered. "I see you caught up on the reports, and sent out missions?"

"Yes," He answered.

"Have you thought about how to deal with that new leadership?" Baki asked walking up slowly. "There is going to be another council meeting tomorrow and we need to be prepared."

"I believe a letter of invitation might do best, maybe if we met face to face we might get along better." He informed his former sensei.

"Hmm, sounds like a good plan. We should lower the ration of water as a precautionary measure." He added carefully.

"Agreed." Gaara replied. "Is that all?"

"You should not work too hard, a weak state will only create more problems. However, I see that you are doing fine right now." Baki nodded his head to his own statement.

"Thank you." Gaara answered.

"I will take care of arranging the escorts for the elders tomorrow." Baki raised a hand as he left to state his goodbye.

Gaara sat back. He had nearly forgotten about the council meeting that was to take place tomorrow with all the water dilemmas and the water reports. Moving his chair forward he remembered about Eriko. He glanced down determined to tell her that she needed to go back to her own bed. Eriko was asleep, curled back up into a tight ball with an empty tea cup out away from her mass. He paused reassessing the situation.

He was not bothered by her presence, and thus did not tell her to leave. As long as no one found out, he saw no problem with it, whether she was awake or asleep. Plus, he did not want to awake her since still seemed very drained. Gaara picked up the cup with his sand and moved it away.

* * *

><p>"You lie!" A boy shouted at Takeo who had just informed the now large group of how he came to know that Eriko was not coming. "There is no way that the Kazekage would care enough to give a message personally, and he would never come to you because your family tried to kill him. If anything, I bet he would tell you though how you and your family can go out into the desert and die!"<p>

"Hey!" Aiko stepped towards the new comers. It had been one thing for her to bully Takeo along with the others back then, but now she could not stand for it. The small kid was really nice and was also hard working. "Take that back!" She threatened him by raising a fist.

"Make us! We came here cause we heard how great it is, but all we see is a traitor and his lowly friends." Another boy spat on the ground.

"Hey now, stop this." Matsuri tried to come in but the children were too riled to listen to her.

"You won't think I'm so lowly when I'm smashing your face into the ground." Teek growled out angry.

"I saw you in class, I know you aren't strong." A girl stepped forward looking the same age as Teek and the older children.

"Don't bet on it!" Ki jumped forward to defend his new role model.

Matsuri stood in horror, unsure of how to start the soon to be wild fight of children. The newer children all ran forward, a group of eight, while the of Teek, Aiko, Danno, Kane, and Takeo along with Ki and Rin all held their ground in fighting stances. Suddenly a great wall of sand came up between the two groups, and everyone stammered backwards away from it. A robe figured appeared opposite of Matsuri between the two groups. It was the Kazekage.

"Kazekage!" Some of the children called out shocked.

"I told you so!" Takeo announced proudly.

"You weren't kidding." Teek muttered. While he had stood up for his new friend, he had not actually believed him.

"Kazekage." Matsuri ran forward to meet her superior.

"You help with the children as well?" Gaara asked his former student, the only one who wanted him to teach her.

"Ye-yes." Matsuri stuttered.

"What is it you normally do?" Gaara asked for clarification. Eriko was still unconscious under his desk. She had awoken twice more for food but always seemed to curl back up and go to sleep before he could say anything to her about moving. Still feeling rested, he decided he would take her place with the children at least to see what it was about.

"I just run drills with them, working on basic jutsus and throwing exercises, Kazekage. Usually there is another girl named Eriko here. She does sparing. She asked me to come and help." Matsuri admitted wondering if she was in trouble for this activity.

"I see." He told her quietly before addressing the gawking and/or quiet children behind her.

"I will take the place of Eriko." He told them and was met with sounds of disbelief.

"Alright!" Kane cheered raising a fist in the air.

"Ha! You shouldn't have messed with us, cause now I doubt he will let you join." Aiko pointed out with a triumphant grin. Takeo smiled as well but in the pit of his stomach he felt something was wrong. The children who had tried to attack him looked worried as Aiko and Teek once did while the others seemed happy. Matsuri was nodding her head to Aiko's statement.

Slowly he went up to the Kazekage. He remembered how happy he was to tell Aiko, Teek, Kane, and Danno that they could not join him and Eriko, and then how sad she seemed to be when he relayed the good news. They had been his bullies, but because he had given into Eriko's look of sadness and trusted her judgment, they turned into friends.

"Ummm, Kazekage?" He asked shyly. The man's light blue eyes went towards him.

"Are you really not going to let them join?" The boy asked still in a quiet voice.

"Of course he won't. They tried to attack the group, and they insulted you. The kazekage would not want that in his ninjas." Matsuri answered instantly, though Gaara had not yet come up with an answer. The newer children all looked shell-shocked, or angry. Kane, Danno, Aiko and Teek seemed happy, along with those who had joined after his bullies had, Yuri, Akunen, Rin, Son, and Kimoiri.

"B-but…" Takeo started trying to remember what Eriko had initially said to him to convince him that letting the others join may not be a bad thing. "when Aiko, Teek, and the others wanted to join, I said no too cause they always bullied, hit and chased me." He proclaimed. Gaara noticed the guilty faces across many of those who had stood up for the boy when the other children yelled at him.

"Eriko… Eriko said that it was good to join with others even if they are your bullies or enemies cause you can learn from them, and you can have fun. And she said it makes you stronger too. And she's one of your special ops right? And it's true! Cause now, we are friends and stronger too… so shouldn't we work together?" He asked now with new confidence.

"Yes." Gaara said with a small smile thinking of a Leaf Ninja's words. Reflecting on his past, he allowed silence to overcome the group. He too had learned the same thing as the child, just at a slightly later age. He glanced towards Matsuri who seemed to be reflecting as well.

"Begin whenever you are ready, and try to attack." He told them giving her a slight nod to let her know that he did not mind taking over Eriko's place for the night. He was starting to feel as though Eriko's considerate personality was capable of making a lot of people indebted to her in one way or another. Part of him wondered if she even realized it, for she was acting very much like a friendly dog would.

Matsuri walked home alone. The children had a lot of fun trying to attack the Kazekage. Teek, Ki, and Rin started to get people to work together to get past his sand. It was a valiant but fruitless effort. Even with the countless losses, Takeo and many of the others were smiling. She doubted very much that Takeo would be bullied ever again, for not even she had believed the Kazekage had delivered a message to him personally though it ended up being true.

She bit her lip as she continued. The kazekage had returned to his work or office, and all the other children had gone home. She had spoke up when Takeo asked if the Kazekage would not allow such unruly bullying children to join. She felt guilty. The troublesome children instantly started to work together with the others once everyone found they could not even stand a chance against the Kazekage on their own. While it did not help much, she could see bonds forming between them. She also had forgotten that the Kazekage at one time was considered something far worse than a mere bully; he had been considered a monster. If she had been a sensei during that time, she too would have pushed him off to the side wanting to keep him away from the other children, or would she had been like Eriko who, from Takeo's words, would have happily gotten him to join.

She felt despicable. For all her words of love towards the Kazekage, her actions were falling short. She also no longer liked being a ninja for she was not certain if she was protecting anyone, let alone the kazekage who she had originally strived to get close to. The children all praised her and came to her for help now, they made her feel as if she was doing some good. On missions, however, she sometimes felt as though she was going to be left behind. Matsuri had to admit, she no longer knew what she wanted.

"What bad?" Came a soft accented voice. Matsuri looked up to see an outline of a tall young boy or a very tall undeveloped little girl.

"You are back." She answered, surprised that Eriko was in the village. From the news it was as if she had got sent out, and according to the children's wild stories created within an hour of hearing the news, it was massive mission.

"I was tired. I need food so I hunt. Hunt is done now so I came. Now I good." She responded moving so that Matsuri might see her in the light of the stars.

"Thekazekage helped with the children tonight." Matsuri informed her, though she was certain the girl already knew.

"Who?" Youjoji/Eriko asked, uncertain if she caught the name right.

"You know, the Kazekage." She repeated.

"I no know. I say to 'aarra to say to Takeo and them, and Hajoh, not Thekaz'kage" Eriko glanced up to the stars observing their position. The children would have been done for a bit now.

"Arra?" Matsuri now questioned having never heard that name before.

"Yes."

"Is he a special operative as well?"

"I no know, 'Rrry…. But what bad? If Thekaz'kage 'elped, you be happy, no? You like thekaz'kage." Eriko questioned her friend.

"I don't know… I don't think that…" Matsuri paused. She was not certain she wanted to admit that yet, thus she did not finish.

"Other too?" Eriko asked seeing that the girl did not want to go on.

"Other?"

"Other." Eriko raised her hand up to the height of Ryo and moved it back and forth to indicate broad shoulders.

"Ryo?" Matsuri answered hesitantly.

"Yes, Ryo 'elp too?" Eriko smiled.

"No, he's busy at night normally. He did buy Takeo and I dinner." She shared with a slight smile.

"Ryo good?" The girl asked.

"I think so." Matsuri answered feeling shy.

"Ma'suri like Ryo too?" A very cunning grin suddenly appeared on Eriko's face, it was a smile Matsuri had not seen her use before.

"I… I mean, I…" She stuttered causing Eriko to grin so much that Matsuri knew even if she said no at this point the girl would not believe her.

"Eriko like this Arra?" She bit back sharply pointing a finger. Eriko ducked out of the way with a smile.

"Eriko like easy, but I no mate. Ma'suri need mate so more chil'ren." The girl cooed grinning. Matsuri laughed.

"You won't but I have to!? I will if you will!" She bantered, not caring if Eriko did not understand the full context of the conversation or not.

"Maybe you and Arra." She added catching the grinning Eriko's attention.

"I no want human mate, they bad." Eriko insisted. "But Ma'suri and Ryo or Thekaz'kage! But, I like Ryo and Ma'suri, all girl want Thekaz'kage."

"No way." Matsuri denied any idea of it.

"Why?" Eriko asked curiously.

"Why no Eriko and Arra?" Ma'suri shot back.

"I no like mates, no want. Want no pain." She stated remembering the pain of whips and the poisons as humans tried to use her to get to her pack.

"What?" Matsuri questioned confused - pain? mates?

"I want no more mate, and no mate want I. And, I no here, I pack there." Youjoji tried to explain.

"It sounds like you like this Arra to me though." Matsuri informed the strange talking girl.

"And Takeo, and you, and Osimu, and -" Youjoji continued the list of the humans she was currently curious about.

Matsuri laughed. The foreign op was a strange indeed.

* * *

><p>Eriko pushed the thick stick with the flat metal end into the ground with ease. Her mind drifted to Takeo and the other children. They constantly questioned her now asking things with words she did not know. Takeo spent most of his mornings trying to teach her words compared to practicing fighting with her. He kept saying that she would need to know the words to help Thekazekage more. He also said that she might be able to be a ninja if she knew the words. She had no real desire to be these metal band wearing ninjas. To her they seemed like the bad humans she often came across, the ones with a lot of tricks.<p>

Shika, Takeo's mother, had given her fabrics. When she expressed confusion, the mother showed her how they went on. It was long cloth shorts. They were lose about her leg and only came down to just above her knee. They were a mossy green in color that reminded her of the growth outside her home dens. The moss around the den had always been the softest places to lay and enjoy the sunlight. Shika had also given her a sleeveless tunic-shirt. It too was loose and baggy for the girl was built more like a young boy than a woman. Takeo had given her cuffs to go about her wrists while the other children gave her human weapons, bandage wraps, fighting wraps, and healing liquids. Aiko and Rin had decided to give her metal strings. Eriko had placed a few of the smaller noisier ones about her right ankle, and then she placed a thicker one around her neck. The one on her neck reminded her of a collar she use to wear when living with her mother by the human village. She did not ask them if this was to mark her as a wolf, as the collar had been for.

Moving the shoveled sand which she had placed in a large container, she placed her bare feet down one right after another. Though Matsuri had insisted that she get "shoes" many times, Eriko still did not like that idea. She was fine to finally give in to wearing the gifts Shika and the children gave her, but shoes were not something she wanted. Shoes would not allow her to feel the ground with her feet, and she was not certain if she could step into the shadows or on shadows so easily with them. Clothes were dangerous because they could be grabbed, her own brother, along with many others, liked to use the clothing to grip the human prey. Sometimes, if they changed into a human form and the clothes would rip off their fleeing prey, they would catch up to it and shove that piece of clothing into their usually screaming mouth. The humans would choke and suffocate as if the wolf had chomped down upon their throats. Having seen such sights, she initially vowed to never wear such dangerous outfits, however here even among the humans who fought, such dangers seemed to not exist.

"Man, for your small frame, you are always the first done!" Osimu commented. He was a bear of a man with thick limbs and hair everywhere.

"I am strong, not small." She corrected with a smirk.

"I'll say. Why didn't you ever become a ninja? Do they not have those where you are from?"

"I was a hunter, not ninja. I was the most strong female hunter." Her eyes instantly became serious.

"Strongest." He corrected.

"Strong'st" She copied, losing the brief moment of seriousness.

"What next?" She asked looking about for another easy task.

"That's it, you're done for the day." He grinned.

"Ok, I will go back to Ms'ter Hajoh. See you tomorrow!" She called with a raise of her hand as she walked away.

"Jeeze, that girl carries the load of seven men as if it was nothing at all." One of the other workers commented.

"Yep, makes for good work." Osimu smiled looking down at his sheet. Because Mr. Hajoh had convinced them to hire her during the day, they were now ahead of schedule. This was the first time they had not been behind in building something as long as he could remember.

"Shouldn't she be a ninja?" He asked.

"I don't know, guess they don't have those where she is from." He answered. "Doesn't matter to me though, she's doing all the work. Plus, when that ninja came for the day to take her place he did not get near the amount done in the same time… and he complained." Osimu laughed

"Haha, yeah. I remember that. And man I should thank her for her quick work cause now, I can finally take days off."

"We all can." Osimu's voice showed his excitement.

"And you still pay us! It's a pretty sweet deal." The man grinned.

"Only because she doesn't accept money." He admitted.

"What?" The man showed some shock having not known.

"Yeah, she works for food. Feed her breakfast and lunch, or lunch and dinner and she'll work between those times for you."

"You are joking!" The girl's co-worker could not believe his ears.

"Yeah, but with the water shortage that deal is becoming worse and worse."

"Oh I know. If they don't figure out something soon we may not be able to live here anymore."

"I hear it's cause the Kazekage and the river village can't agree." A third joined in.

"Yeah, that's cause the river village doesn't want our protection anymore, so they say there is nothing we can give them." Added a forth.

"I wonder why that is?" Osimu asked

"I don't know." Commented the worker he had been talking too.

"I dunno either, but I've heard the river village took over some of the villages around them pretty easily." The forth continued.

"They don't have the strength to over take us." The third man retaliated.

"Yeah, but did they not have the strength to over take the other villages before? I wonder what has changed." Osimu glanced down at his sheets. If there was a battle in the village, all their hard work would probably get destroyed, again. However, he had faith that the Kazekage would make sure that the village remain safe.

* * *

><p>Eriko twitched her nose. There were new scents in the village, humans that smelled of swamp, grass, and mud. Snorting, she tried to ignore it. Eriko was not a part of the leadership that ruled this village, nor did she really want to figure out how to be. She was content most days with helping the children, working with Mr. Hajoh, helping the men, and going hunting back in the unclaimed grasslands from time to time. While she did redirect the wild desert dogs to an area away from human trails, she was not about to get involved in this territory's politics. She did not want to go back to a life of fighting just yet, especially considering she was certain her brother would come down to visit if she did. The desert and the grasslands in that direction were near enough to his territory that he would see no problem in visiting his 'neighbor'. She did not want to endanger the humans with such a dangerous guest.<p>

Blowing more air out of her nose, she continued with cleaning the dishes like Mr. Hajoh showed her. They were using less and less water each time, so she was constantly being corrected. The food was also becoming drier and she did not like it as much. However, it was the desert and according to the dogs it did not rain here very often so of course things would be dry. She figured the humans knew how to handle it and thus it was no concern to her, along with these new human smells.

"Stop sniffling and get to work! I swear, you act too much like a dog some days." Mr. Hajoh barked snapping his fingers at her.

"I am work'ng." She stated with an accent though the grammar was finally correct.

"Then why aren't they done?" He asked.

"'Cause you too noisy." She countered grinning.

"Be careful with that water. The men are here to talk on if they will give us more, but it will take a week or so for that to occur… IF they agree." He growled out words she did not know on a topic she was not familiar with.

Eriko watched as new several more people entered the village with several ninjas. Her lips twitched several times at the scents of them. Three weeks ago other new humans had come and left, and now there were many more. These new humans walked with strength as if they owned the land, and their eyes reminded her of a prowling cat on hunt, stalking its prey. She assumed nothing though as the humans walked towards where Aarrra would be often during the day. She could never tell with humans if they were hunting or not, for they liked to use tricks and games. Plus sometimes, they would seem as though they are hunting, but then turn out they were not. It all still confused her.

As the ninjas and humans walked, she noticed the ninjas were slightly injured. This bothered her. But more than that, another scent caught her attention. This one caught her attention and kept it. This scent made her hair stand on end; it was Tomo. Tomo had been in their presence. Tomo had touched, attacked, grasped, or brushed by them. Tomo's scent was on them. Worried she jumped up easily to on top of the wall surrounding the village. She inhaled through her nose as deeply as she could. Tomo's scent had been thick on the humans, so much that they had seen him within days. Breathing, she found it. Tomo was out in the desert, and she knew. The desert was not his territory, something was not right.

She dashed to Aarrra as fast as she could entering the room though many were present inside of it. Her jaw hurt from the accumulating pressure she was building up from being tense. If this was her pack, she would be the leader. If she could communicate better, she would not be so anxious. But Tomo was near, or coming, and she knew not what they would do, or how to get them to do anything about it!

"I need to talk, Aarrra." She declared in front of the others.

"What?" A ninja asked confused.

"We haven't finished our report on the river village." A man stated.

"Aarrra, It not good. I need to talk, just you no other. It maybe bad." She stated again, trying not to make her voice sound tense. She wanted to bark a warning to Tomo who dared to cross into her territory. But it was not her territory and that was the main root of her anxiety. It was not hers and no one was telling her what she should be doing to help the territory that was not hers!

"You need to leave." Gaara told her. He did not know what she was talking about, but negotiations with the river village were about to begin and he did not have time for anything else. The village water supplies were running low.

She growled at him, but vanished. Her eyes had been upset, and her body showed that she was full of energy. He paused for a moment hoping that she would not get herself into trouble. Normally she did not burst in, nor seem anxious, however he could not deal with whatever misunderstanding there was.

Eriko left 'Aarrra. He did not understand and it bothered her. Tomo never left his territory unless called out by the other alphas for a meeting of the packs, or he was expanding. Maybe one other time he left to over see the exchange of hunting wolves, but still usually he was in his territory or making new land his territory by riding it of its old owners!

She quickly took survey of the village. Everyone she cared about was inside it, so if she met Tomo outside of its walls then maybe they would not get involved if there was a fight. Wolves often fought if another has crossed a line, and while it was not her territory exactly, technically he crossed a line by not announcing himself. Hopefully she could detour his course and move him away from both the desert dogs and the humans.

He did not know why but the way she had acted bothered him. It reminded him of an anxious animal afraid of a predators' attack. Usually she seemed calm and cheerful, so to see her otherwise made him wonder if there was a possibility that something was going on. He sent a ninja to track her, if it was even possible and put up more guards around the village. Since the new leaders of the river village had finally arrived, he did not want anything going wrong. All other negotiations had gone poorly, but he was certain that the sand village could befriend the river village once again.

Gaara walked into the meeting where the council and the river village leaders were waiting. He could not let the village down. If they did not strike up a deal to peacefully obtain water, he was certain trouble would ensue. However, he had learned a lot about how to reach agreements peacefully since being Kazekage, and all parties willing, he hoped that was exactly what was going to happen.

Eriko ran up the side of the large wall before leaping over. She bent her knees to soften the might blow of gravity; her feet sunk deep into the sand all the way up to her shins. Pushing them down farther, she forcefully took off in the direction of Tomo. She felt as though she alone was going to take on an entire strong pack by herself, and it was the truth.

She ran, keeping her eyes to the horizon unsure to which form Tomo was in.

"You do not want to make an enemy out of the sand village." Naomi spoke with a serious tone.

"What is it that you are looking for?" Gaara spoke.

"Kazekage, I'm sure what we want is something you do not want to give us." He spoke with a grin. Fortune had been shinning down upon him and thus he had taken over not only the village of the river but the ones that surrounded it as well.

"Then let us talk about what we can give to each other." Hanzuk nodded his head at his own statement. Gaara allowed his eyes to gaze across the table, silencing all counters. The peaceful way would get them far.

* * *

><p>"<em>Human approaches, what should we do?"<em> She heard a hunter snort out.

"_Wait…_" Tomo's sound was like a wind across a prarie. She knew he could easily sound like a blazing fire, so she was happy to hear his smoother voice. Inhaling deeply she slowed to a casual approach.

"_Greetings Tomo."_ Her body did not show anxiety, and her eyes held no worry. Some of the hunters' eyes showed surprise. They were all in human form.

Tomo did not look at her. His green sightless eyes were dead. His long smoky fawn colored hair fell down to his waist in a clean cut. No wolf wore long hair unless their mate was powerful or them themselves were. His body was fit and solid like a tall oak. The man wore a deer skin pants that were shredded down to the length of her shorts. He sported no shirt, cuffs, or shoes and all the male hunters were dressed the same. The three male hunters and one female stared at her waiting for Tomo's judgment.

He moved his right foot out showing his callused heel and stepped it down in the sand moving forward. She was to be ignored. Whatever his destination, whatever his purpose, it was more important that the female in front of him.

"_Greetings TOMO._" She stepped back, accenting his name and showing a flash of teeth.

"_Welcome to the sand that I am living on._" She stated carefully. It was not her territory. If she claimed it as her territory, she would not be allowed back to her forest home where her family resided.

"_I smell you, and I am not interested in the sand, do not worry._" He responded with the smooth windy voice, once again stepping forward, this breaking into a run. He informed her that he was not expanding his territory, and she should not be worried about having to fight him back. However, their path and direction was straight towards the human village.

"_I am glad."_ She stated keeping pace with him.

"_We don't need an escort, we aren't here to hunt your prey or mess with your dogs."_ A male told her to fill in the silence Tomo left.

"_Do you not smell my trail? You are following my path, going towards where I sleep." _She informed them passively, before growling the last part. "_Take another route."_

"_We will be done shortly, then we will leave you be."_ Tomo informed her, picking up the pace.

They were hunting. All of them were hunting, following the scent trail that she had used… the same trail that the ninjas and new comers had taken. They were all heading towards the village, and she knew that there was no prey between them and the village.

"_TOMO!" _ She growled out at the wolf who was obsessively hunting something he had not been chasing down from the beginning. No wolf randomly hunted something that already had gone as if it was near. Something was wrong and Tomo was not stopping.

She sneered. Pushing her upper body forward, two massive black paws fell to the ground and the rest of her body followed. She dug her paws into the sand, and blocked out the sun as she stood in front of the hunting party again.

"_You are hunting what is mine, Tomo. Explain."_ She did not want to attack him and she did not want to fight them, but they were on direct course with Takeo, Hajoh, Matsuri, and Aarrra.

"_My son is dying from some poison, the humans will help us if we help them. They want your humans dead, so I will kill them. Your humans are nothing compared to my son."_ He answered as he changed forms. He was a light smoky brown color with long wiry fur. His body was larger than hers.

"_Do not stand between my jaws and my prey."_ He warned her showing sharp, long, elongated fangs. He was 500 years old with wisdom far past her years. Her mother however, was 600 when she died and had taught her well.

His body started to move forward again.

* * *

><p>"What we want… what we want is the sand village, and if you do not surrender, you will be destroyed. Only we can save you from the destruction that comes." The man suddenly smiled with a dangerous glint in his eyes. The others smiled as well.<p>

"You come to our village to threaten us?" Hanzuk asked in shock.

"No, we came to your village to lead the way to your destruction." The man answered. The others suddenly burst into water, leaving him as the only representative from the river village present.

Gaara reached his sand out towards the man and searched the village for the others. The man met Gaara's sand with water; it fell down too heavy to be carried by his chakra. Then suddenly, the man exploded into a pool of water. The men who had come to the village for negotiations disappeared in their village with a declaration of war. In the back of Gaara's mind, Eriko came to mind.

"Set up the barrier, tell the ninjas to be on guard, and make sure no one takes any risks." He spoke coolly before wrapping the sand around him. He needed to find the men and figure out what this destruction was that they spoke of. Part of him began to wonder if Eriko some how had knew something he had not.

* * *

><p>His hunters had gotten past her, but they were 116 of a demon or 1/32. They could only hold a human form for a short time, they could not feed on a whole human by themselves, and they could not slaughter the entire village in a day. Tomo, who was a half demon, like her mother and her brother's father, could do all those things plus more.

Her teeth snapped out towards his shoulder, as he attempted to boar through her. Grunting she held her ground as best as she could. He used her larger body to slowly move her backwards towards his target. She jerked about and tore free from his grip. Quickly she opened her mouth and renewed her own. She could not allow him to go near that village.

"FOUR APPROACH!" A ninja called out across the village. At his call, water blasted through three village houses. Gaara sent his sand out as the ninjas went to intercept the seven attackers. It was easy to see now that the men had been waiting for the others to come.

A man was flying towards him. Gaara put his sand up as a shield and the attacker clamored over it. The man's hands were out and his mouth was open in a vicious open-mouth smile. Gaara brought up the sand and shoved the man away as fast as he could. The man fell downwards to the ground, being followed by Gaara's attack. He flipped his body so that he would land on his feet, if Gaara let him. Right as he was about to grab the attacker, another half-naked man jumped up onto his sand and used it as a road to him. His speed was impressive, near to that of Lee's from the Leaf Village. Gaara instantly made the sand into spikes. The man jumped with impressive power, his body rocketing towards him. Gaara brought his sand up as a shield around himself completely. He needed to take care of the village, he could not waste time protecting himself.

Closing his eyes he formed an eye outside of the shield. Instantaneously it was destroyed. The river men were soaking the ground around the village in their attack, and Gaara was finding that he had less and less sand to use. Temari had tracked down one of the men was in pursuit waiting until the moment that she could use it.

Gaara noticed that there were four strong attackers, the four who had been announced to be approaching. Their speed was such that the announcement had done no good, by the time they were sighted it was too late, they hopped the wall with ease. The river village leaders were taking on the task of hindering him and the other sand ninjas. Their water attacks soaked everything.

He did not have time to think. A water attack came at him, and he needed to move away from it. If that water soaked his sand, he would be too heavy to move.

Kankuro had one of the river men cornered as Baki went to assist Temari, all while Matsuri along with several other ninjas had the third one in their sights. Gaara took the task of trying to keep the four back up fighters under control, however they were a lot stronger and a lot faster. He could take two of them, before the other two came to their aid. He tried to keep them away from the others, for if they came upon someone that ninja would drop down quickly as if drained from energy.

A huge water blast hit his barrier. He brought up the wet sand below him as best he could. Catching himself, he felt two his attackers escape his grasp. A scream insued shortly after that. The fighters no longer were focusing on him, but instead seemed to be trying to stalk through the village quickly.

Matsuri's arm was bloody and she could barely feel her fingers. Her friend had taken her away from the vicious attack quickly. The man had shifted into a wolf and attacked her. She inhaled sharply through the pain. She could not let this get her down, even if she lost her hand she would regret it more if one of the villagers or the children she had been helping were to be attacked instead.

"Let's go, we have to take down the water users first!" She announced. The kazekage was able to handle the three fast half-naked males and female, up until the river village leaders started attacking them. She noticed that Baki was going after these strange fighters, but having some trouble. While they did not use jutsus, throw weapons, or seem to use anything other their bodies, they were extremely dangerous and they could steal their chakra. She had felt it.

"Watch out for them, they steal chakra in their bites. Eat it!" She wrapped her arm up in a piece of her shirt. Blood instantly soaked through it.

Gaara saw that his former student was attacked. He forced the wet sand up, trapping one of the faster fighters. The man did not stay down very long, and seemed to be running away. Gaara followed him with his sand, at the same time as he tried to trap the female. These four seemed to work in an intricate pattern. If he attacked one or two of them, the others would use his attack against them. If one was hurt, the others would assist. The only think Gaara was ok with was that they only seemed to go after the villagers if they lost efficiency in their attacks and defense.

Everyone needed to work together to take down the attackers.

* * *

><p>Tomo had changed back into his human form. His eyes were expressionless but his mouth was open in an angry snarl.<p>

"_My son dies and you dare to hold me back from these human prey!?"_ He asked. Bloody glass shards covered the ground they stood on. The man was covered in dirt and had bloody marks on his shoulder, hip, and side. His mouth was bloody as were his hands, but not from injury.

"_Your son is not dead yet. I know not how to mend poisons, just to survive them. Leave these humans alone, find the answer to your son's life elsewhere."_ The girl's eyes were dark. Blood and burns were splattered across her body. Cuts ran up and down her legs from the glass shards, while her arms held bruises and bite marks. Her clothes had been burnt and torn off her leaving her with just a partially charred wrapping across her jest and a light mossy green skirt. The metal necklace had burnt into her skin. She bore her teeth to him.

"_They healed my hunter who was bit by a snake. When my son fell ill, the humans could not help him, but the newcomers, the leaders, said that these villages were withholding the key to his health. I do not seek revenge, I am defending my son from their poisonous attack."_ He inhaled sharply through his mouth and blew out.

The heat of his breath caused flames to erupted out, spreading across the sand melting it down into a hot red liquid. She jumped back, and ran around to try to attack him from the side. Tomo turned his head, using his ears to follow her steps.

"_You are the one attacking, these humans have not. Your humans lie! If we have such an ability to save your son, why not just come in peace? Are you so weak you need the humans to negotiate for you!?" _ She asked trying to strike at his pride. Quickly she ran towards his body, ignoring the flames that bit at her. Burnt flesh and blood was the smell that arose from their battle scene.

Her hand shoved his bottom jaw upward, silencing his flame. One of his hands went to her throat, while the other aimed at her torso. She kicked him in the chest to put distance between the attacks. He gripped her foot as she gripped his neck at the base of his jaw. If he blew the fire out at her again, she would be engulfed by it at this close distance.

"_You are great and strong; do not be so easily tricked by those humans. Why hunt something when you do not hunger?"_ She asked keeping her grip tight through her own pain. With a powerful blow, he knocked her foot lose, and chucked her away from him, throwing her body out and back.

"_My son dies, as long as those humans hold their promise, I will hold mine. It is a pact, an honor." _ He informed her before resuming the hunt toward the village.

Eriko felt the riveting pain which went up and down her legs from the glass. She felt the broken ribs that made it hard for her to breathe. She knew her arm was fractured, and blood was pouring out of her at a dangerous pace. She knew she was no match for Tomo in her passive mindset, but she could not allow him to hunt them freely. She wished for a way to convince him that he was wrong, the humans he spoke of were wrong. Aarrra, Matsuri, Takeo, and Hajoh would make a deal with him to save his son, at least that's what she hoped was true.

Inhaling she went off after him. He was far ahead of her, and she could only trust that the humans were smart enough to stay alive until she got there.

* * *

><p>Gaara held the four attackers in his sand. They each had a ninja in their grasp, so he could not so easily dispose of them. Matsuri and Kankuro, along with Temari and Baki had two of the three river fighters. The third one was the only one left, and he was attempting to free the fighters Gaara held.<p>

"AUHHHHOOOOOOOOO!" Came a sound that boomed across the village. Another human figure leaped over the wall at such a height it reminded Gaara of Eriko. This body was larger, and light-gray-brown hair flew out around the man.

His sand went out to the intruder. Flames engulfed it, turning the sand spike into a solid glass crystal. Gaara was forced to move the little dry sand he had out of the way of the attack. The man's arm suddenly smashed into his body and Gaara was thrown backwards into the village wall. His grip on the four hunters was loosened and they escaped, leaving the sand ninjas they had been using as shields behind, still alive.

"KAZEKAGE!" Matsuri yelled as water blasted towards them. Kankuro and her dodged the attack easily, but their hostage escaped. Kankuro drew out his puppets to follow the man. Matsuri started forward to cut the attacker off, but was stopped, before her stood a very bloody, very injured Eriko.

"I want… I want no hurt. No hurt him and no hurt you… but you hurt." She stated her eyes looked as though she realized something depressing. She looked over Matsuri before glancing towards the water using men who were blocking one of Kankuro's puppets.

"I no know if I strong-er… But…" The girl's voice perked up. "can you trick them?" She asked suddenly as an idea popped into her head.

"Eriko I will do my best, I swear as ninja. But you need to take cover, and let us deal with this. We will take care of them don't worry." Matsuri assured her injured friend with new determination to defeat these men.

"No, Lis'en Ma'suri! Lis'en." Her voice demanded Matsuri's attention. "He" The girl pointed to the man who had just appeared the one who had attacked the Kazekage with such strength. "He have son, son dying, poison kill'ng son, he want son to no die… So they" She pointed over to the river village men. "they say son no die of He help kill you. They say you have thing to make his son no die, but they say you want son to die. They have him hunt many. I say to him, no need to kill, but they say to him need to. They save others" She pointed to one of the half-naked fighters who came over the wall. "so he like them." She explained as best as she could.

"They bad, yes? Can you trick them, to say they no help son, or say we help and not need him kill'ng? He lis'en and stop if they say. He no like them if they say, and no kill. Can trick?" She asked anxiously. She did not have time to explain anymore. She could feel the shadows of the chaos, the scents, the sounds, and she knew she needed to go back to confronting Tomo so that the others might go back to the advantage they had before the two arrived.

"I see, so they are not with the river village…"

"Leze? I go, now, but can trick?" She asked one last time as Ryo approached them. The blood of Matsuri had brought her over initially. Now, she needed to go back to the fight, she did not know enough to trick, nor did she know how to trick, but she knew how to hunt. Leaving Matsuri to be helped by Ryo, Youjoji followed the scent trails, her eyes sent in a hunters gaze.

"So if we can get them to declare they cannot heal the poison, the others will stop?" Ryo asked having over heard the strange girl.

"Do you think it would work?" Matsuri asked uncertain.

"I don't know, do you trust what she says?" He asked back. Matsuri glanced at the place Eriko had stood.

How foolish was she. How like a pup she had acted, pretending to be human, thinking she was like a human, an Eriko. Youjoji cursed herself as she left Matsuri. The girl's arm was bloody, and it was her fault. She had hesitated in taking Tomo down; she had allowed the smaller ones to pass. She should have just claimed the territory as hers! But now she could not go back, she could only look forward.

Aarrra was strong, she noted. He could control all the sand. Sometimes he lost his grip when the water touched it, or Tomo's flame, but he was very strong. He would be able to take care of the humans who smelled like mud easily. She did not have time to explain the situation to him, but he had told her he was busy with other things when she had interrupted him earlier. Maybe his other things were with the mud humans, and now her tasks were to be the wolf pack hunters. She decided she would take care of Tomo.

"Aarrra!" She called jumping down. Tomo released his grip on the human and jumped back to avoid her kick.

"You hunt the water men, I get him, OK?" She informed him, allowing her dark black eyes to briefly meet his light blue ones. No was written all over his body.

"He mine." She told him, hardening her eyes forcing him to look pass the blood, cuts, bruises, burns and dirt. She was an able fighter, a strong hunter, and a powerful force. He needed to take care of the others and leave Tomo to her.

"Get them." Were her last words to him. She did not even wait for a response as she dashed off to attack Tomo again. The strong powerful fighter dodged, moving them both farther away.

Gaara for a moment reached his sand out towards them. Eriko had been covered in blood, cuts, and burns. Bruises had started to form, and she spoke with a breathy painful sound. A water blast shot through the village, causing his reach to crumble. He brought up more sand and focused. The four fighters that came over the wall were easily defeating the ninjas, while the river village men who had declared the war were struggling, but also causing the most damage. As far as he could tell no one had been killed, yet.

"Kazekage!" Matsuri ran down to meet him. Gaara glanced over and saw her arm wrapped and bloody. He had been her former teacher, now he was her Kazekage, and yet he had not protected her.

"Kazekage, I have news…." She started.

* * *

><p>"<em>Tell me Tomo, can you hear the humans talking? They know not why you attack for they know not that they are your prey or enemy!" <em> She tried logic again. She could not just give up and fight.

"_If they are not, then they should give me what I need to heal my son. Tell me not that you have become a pet." _He growled back. His body was hot to her touch. The wind around them spun and moved feeding them the scents of the village. Tomo was born of two half demon-wolves, one of fire the other of wind.

"_I am no pet."_ As he gripped her hand, she flipped her body up to kick him in the head. They forced each other's body away and turned to find themselves face to face again.

"_I admit you are stronger than I gave you credit for, but you underestimate how much my son means to me and the future of the pack. I will use every resource to keep him alive._"

"_Fine. Let us fight for the resource then, let us make a pact of our own._" Her eyes were serious. Tomo was fairly uninjured despite all the fighting.

"_And what do you have to offer that I cannot already have?"_ He asked, his voice back to that of the whispering wind.

"_Myself, my help. I will band myself with you and put my being into your cause. If you win, I will help you attack this village along with any others that you need to attack for them to obtain your cure._" Youjoji knew the old hunter's wisdom would make it so he would accept. Tomo did not move

"_And if I win… you leave the sand._" She offered simply. Tomo slowly nodded his head. It was a good pact, one that stood in his favor and both of them knew it. Youjoji did not want to turn on the humans, but there was no other way to keep Tomo's attacks centered to her alone. Plus, if it was two alphas fighting then the other hunters might pause their own attacks to watch. With the stakes so high though, she needed to win, or stall him long enough that Matsuri can trick the others into revealing themselves as being un-trustable humans.

"_Your strength and skill set would be an asset to my pack. I agree. We will fight to decide who has to keep their part"_ He placed his left hand out towards her, as she put her left hand towards him. Bringing the hands up to their mouth, they bit drawing their own blood.

"_May my legs give out, jaw be broken, and throat be slashed if I do not stand by my wolf-honorable pact for my pack._" They swore. Pacts could only be broken by something changing that was not set in the initial agreement or someone fighting another usually to death or banishment.

The two wolves in human form paused and allowed the blood from their hand to drip to the ground sealing their agreement.

Gaara wondered if what Matsuri had told him was true. Ryo had volunteered to see if he could not get them to admit to anything, and Matsuri said she would do the same. Temari's fan was soaked from the water along with Kankuro's puppets. They were creating water clones, and he was certain that if he kept attacking they would soon run out of water. He did not know where their water source was, but he was certain that it could not be an endless supply.

"Kazekage, the four intruders are retreating!" A man called to him. He checked his surroundings. It was true, the four fighters were backing off the ninjas and moving away. However, they were not running for the wall to leave. Instead he found that they were simply just jumping up on to a roof to stand still.

"Attack them while they are rest!" Another called seeing that they were not moving. Arrows shot up towards the targets. One of the males dodged, while the half-naked girl caught an arrow in her mouth. The other two simply batted the attack away. They all gave a vicious sneer at the sand ninjas, but did nothing more.

Gaara noticed that they were not the only ones to notice the four's behavior. The river village's new leaders seemed to all suddenly become extremely angry.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING! ATTACK THE SAND VILLAGE NINJAS!" One of the shouted.

"ISN'T THAT WHAT YOU ARE HERE FOR? OR DON'T YOU CARE IF HE DIES ANYMORE?_" _Another called. Gaara remembered Matsuri's report and decided that it was valid. If there could be a way to take the five away from the river village leaders then even with their water jutsus they would not be able to stand against the village.

"READY… AIM…. FIRE!" More arrows were sent towards the now idle attackers. A small figure popped up by one of them, and Gaara sent his sand in to intercept the attack.

"Stop the river village men first." He commanded with the arrows caught in his sand arm. Lowering the sand, he checked again. This time he was positive. Takeo was up on the roof with one of the intruders. Since the boy seemed to not be being attacked, Gaara moved to go beside him.

"-so, they are friends?" He heard part of Takeo's speech as he landed next to the boy.

"No. We do not have friends." The man answered. His gold eyes were locked in a downward gaze. All the intruders' sights were set at the same point. Gaara glanced down. Eriko and the powerful man were fighting.

Eriko stomped down on the ground in front of the taller fighter that she had told Gaara was hers. Swinging her leg about upon the frozen man, she kicked him backwards. The man's body flew towards ninjas who were going to assist Temari. Gaara sent his sand out to stop him from attacking, but instead he flipped himself up and sent his body back towards Eriko. The girl stepped back slightly and brought her already smaller frame lower to the ground. The man started to weave, and Gaara noticed that the wind cross stitched itself into the ground. Eriko ducked and dodged the attack, before swinging her arm around towards the man's head. He gripped it and brought it down lower. She twisted to bring her feet up to his head. Kicking it out straight, she forced him to duck back, loosening his grip so that she might escape. He inhaled, and she ran out of the way. Flames spewed out upon the sand turning it to glass.

"But I thought you said they were not going to kill each other?" Takeo asked the strange man who reminded him of Eriko.

"They aren't, but once Tomo wins, we will kill you so you better find your mother or father and get running puppy." He answered with a slight annoyance to his voice.

"But you aren't attacking." Takeo was confused.

"He hasn't won yet." He explained, finally glancing away from the fight. His golden eyes looked up and saw Gaara standing there. Gaara readied his attack.

"Unlike you, we do have a honor code that we all follow." He informed the red-haired man, daring him to attack and show just what a coward he was. Gaara did not attack, but instead glanced towards the two fighting bodies. Eriko was losing a lot of blood and he knew she would not be able to keep up the fight for very much longer.

He wrapped the sand about him and went to where Temari and Baki were. He could not help Eriko until they somehow got the two groups to split.

Youjoji only focused on attacking Tomo and lessening the impact of his attacks upon her. She no longer really cared about defending herself. He was using the heat from her body to see her movements, and with his control of wind, he was bringing the sounds and scents from the village to them. He truly was a great fighter, able to not only keep fighting her but also keep a watch on his hunting pack and the status of his original prey at the same time. She could only hope that she too would become so great.

Her shoulder popped as she ignored her own pain to dislocate his. In a single twist, she had turned his force of power against him. Instead of just dislocating her shoulder, she made it so his would come out of place as well. They both threw each other in different directions, separating themselves to be face to face again.

"_Very creative."_ He complimented as she popped her shoulder back into place painfully.

"_Your span of knowledge makes it pretty difficult to do anything but the creative._" She commented back, noticing that he fixed his shoulder with more ease.

"_My son as motivates means this is a fight that you will lose._" He informed her.

"_I know."_ She answered honestly. Her scent was everywhere, as was her blood. But she had never been one to die easily. _"But if I were someone who lost easily, or died, my brother would have killed me long ago."_

The human river men were shouting at them again, and while she did not understand it, she could only hope that maybe they were being tricked by Matsuri. Seeing no reaction from him, she knew it was not.

He came at her, his body moved much faster this time, and she did not have time to duck.

Black. Her vision went black, her mind went black. Everything was black…..

Every time she was knocked out flashed into her mind:

_A human horse and wagon had just ran her over when she went to pick up her ball…_

_A human had hit her over the head in attempts to get to her mother who lived outside their village…_

_Her brother had chucked her small body off the mountain…_

_Her brother had bashed her head against the rocks for trying to eat with them…_

_Her uncle had held her up by her throat making it impossible for her to breathe…_

_Her brother threw her off the mountain…_

_A tree had fallen on her after she pushed a puppy out of the way…_

_Her brother's friend had kicked her…_

_Her brother threw her off the mountain…_

_The food she had just eaten had made her sick…_

_Her brother had just punched her in the stomach…_

_Her brother threw her off the mountain…_

_Her brother threw her off the mountain telling her that if she could not even pull off being a weak human he did not want her to ever come back…_

Youjoji opened her eyes, and dug her feet into the ground. Her flying body skidded against the sand. Jumping back she hopped on to the small sand tower she had made and ran forward. Her arm grasped his torso and in a single powerful motion, she spun him around showing just how strong she was, just how much he needed to think of her… She finished the turn and threw him up and out. His body flew back with great speed up and over the wall. He skidded in the sand on the other side. She followed suit. As she reached the top, she was met with a wolf whose head would be able to easily reach down beyond the wall to devour up its human continents.

"You better surrender now Sand village, else you will be eaten up." One of the escaping leaders laughed seeing the massive wolf on the other side of the wall.

Matsuri's eyes followed Eriko as the girl leapt over the wall. She could not believe that she was going out to meet such a massive creature. Suddenly back fur rose up and a wolf of equal or greater size stood between the light brown-gray wolf and the sand village. The two wolves instantly attacked each other, trying to get the other to submit to their power…

"What!?" The man shouted enraged to see another demon holding back his own.

"When did the sand village acquire a new demon!? What did you do, put a binding seal on them to keep it in control!?" He asked. Matsuri instantly saw an opening.

"I don't know maybe we poisoned them?" She tried continuing her chase of the man with Baki and Temari branching out to cut him off.; the kazekage had the other two under control.

"Ha, that doesn't work we tried!" He shouted back.

"Don't you have one of them poisoned?" She asked confused. The arrogant man smiled.

"No, I bet you are leading them on with false promises. What did you promise, water? Food?" He asked wanting to know what he could use against the large black wolf who he saw as a second source of power.

"Our promises aren't false!" Matsuri was actually upset that he wanted to con people into following him. She remembered Eriko's constant use of the word trick, and now she finally understood why.

"Don't be kidding yourself, keep promises to them? Really? Who would help a monster like-" Suddenly his voice was caught off. Matsuri came to a stop, the man who had attacked the Kazekage held up the river villager by his throat.

"So… You were just using us." The man stated as his hunters ripped the other river village men away from the Kazekage's sand. The four fighters held the two men tightly. Panic and fear was easy to be seen, as the Kazekage signaled for the sand ninjas to stand down.

"It seems they tried to deceive us both, us with the water, and you with your son." Gaara answered, hoping that once the deceitful men were dealt with maybe this leader would negotiate peacefully. A light growling tone came from the man. His grip tightened at the mention of his son, causing his prey to squirm. Gaara along with those near noticed the reaction.

"We have medical ninjas here, and are allied with the Leaf village. We would be willing to help you and your son." He stated. While the ground was soaked with water, it did not take away from the fact that the village was still in desperate need.

"If I helped you destroy another den of humans!? I am done with your games." He threw the man with ease and started to move towards the wall.

"We are leaving, and if those men step foot on to my territory I will allow my hunters here to rip off their limbs and spill the guts on to the ground before slaughtering them." He stated coolly. The four fighters all grinned as they too chucked the men back into the sand village.

Tomo jumped down onto the sand near the entry gate. His four fighters came down around him. All the ninjas could now take time to inspect the intruders. Tomo stood taller than the other four fighters. He was the only one with long hair, the others had short cuts. Their bodies were all fit and strong. The woman had curves similar to models and actresses, while the men had the bodies of athletes causing all the other women to eye them in interest. They wore minimal clothing, and the way the girl had her chest wrapped, reminded Gaara of Eriko.

"You are the one that attacked us, don't you think it would be in your best interest to work with us to repair the relationship?" Baki stepped forward.

"I did not kill you, you should be thankful." The man answered without expression.

"The sand village and the river village have been allies for decades." He countered, but the man just slowly turned away.

"I am not from the river village, nor do I care about their affairs." He stated still walking slowly towards the entryway, ignoring the on looking ninjas.

"You have done us a great wrong, aren't you going to make it right!?" Matsuri asked with passion, jumping down to get closer to him. The man smirked.

"A wrong?" He asked.

"You attacked us and injured our fighters for a misunderstanding!" Another called as Gaara analyzed the situation.

"Would it have been better if it was not?" He asked in an uncaring tone, continuing on his path.

"We should use this opportunity to realize our friends and enemies." Gaara stated putting a slight accent on the word enemies. "As of now, I do not know where you stand." He stated.

"Maybe I am not the one who is blind." The man answered with a smile reaching out his hand. An injured Eriko was walking back into the village with a noticeable limp. She did not understand the human words at all so she just continued on her way.

"But I can always sense the strong, and I will say you are strong… As is this one." He stated placing his hand over Eriko's face. After a beat, she ducked left with an annoyed look.

"_You left our fight, I assume our pact no longer holds; but yet we are all aggressive. Are we still fighting?"_ She asked somewhat confused. Both her ears along with her jaw had popped, painfully.

"We are done, and leaving." He stated as he turned away.

"Good." She replied.

"Eriko, are you alright?" Matsuri ran toward her.

"Yes." She answered with slight hesitation. Last she knew, she did not understand the word 'alright.'

"We need to get you to the medics, they will heal you. Come with me." Matsuri shortened the last statement remembering that Eriko did not understand their language. Eirko's head snapped towards the leaving group.

"My ninjas will escort you out." Gaara stated, noting Eriko's injuries as well.

"There is no need." Tomo replied with a slight smile.

"Tomo!" The sound burst from Youjoji's mouth. It was supposed to be a bark, but instead it was not. Her own sound surprised her into silence.

Gaara glanced over at Eriko who seemed to be in some sort of shock. It was now obvious that she knew these men maybe even was friends with them, however of everyone she had been the most injured by them. He did not know what her connection to them was, but the village would only be able to survive a month more without a new water supply.

"Mr. Tomo, if you leave this village under these situation we will consider you an enemy." He stated in a much firmer tone. "We cannot allow someone to come in, attack us, and just leave."

Tomo snorted.

"_These humans might be foolish enough to dare hunt a wolf."_ He informed them. Eriko's lip curled upwards as she glanced around. Matsuri was worried while Aarrra wanted them to stay for some reason.

"_If you do not respect our presence here we may not respect yours there."_ She started to sneer, but was happy to hear the words come out as whispering whine. Tomo paused to listen, letting her know that he had come to respect them, well at least her.

"You are trying to listen to the wrong one, I do not stand in first or even a third position here." She stated informing him that she was not the leader, and also noting that she was speaking with human words. He stopped and turned his head towards her.

"You are not the female alpha?" He asked.

"No." She answered, wondering how to control her voice. She knew he did something to allow her to speak and understand human speech but was not in a position to actually address him about it. She was not the female alpha here.

"So who is it that I should listen to?" He asked.

"Theka'kage." She stated with slur on the name. Tomo stopped moving he grunted out a few things quietly.

"_Be prepared, I have been invited to stay by their alpha, a human."_ He told them.

"_I am done with humans, we should kill them and establish new leadership if we want to interact with them."_ One commented.

"_Humans are prey or to be tolerated, not something to work with."_ Another jumped in.

"_I do not like it that their obviously strongest female fighter is not the female alpha."_ The female chimed in, giving Youjoji a clear nod.

"I am originally from the forest territory. I am certain you have heard of my brother and our fights if nothing else from there." She stated to them to answer to why she was not the female alpha. Tomo chuckled.

"You two broke a mountain because you stopped him from slaughtering a group of fifteen that had killed a deer while passing through. And there is the story of how your brother and uncle ended up killing several newborns and experience fighters in a misunderstanding over sleeping arrangements. Of all the groups, yours has always been the most unruly." He smiled amused at the younger demons' tempers and show of strength. She groaned gripping her broken ribs as she did.

"_Don't remind me, I was eleven and mother was away visiting you. It was a painful time, I had every bone in my body broken by those two when she returned. But, at least they didn't end up killing each other and everyone else."_ She smiled with the happy note. At the time she was certain the entire pack was going to end up dead and Yuki who had taken her own side was not helping.

"You are lucky you left, you are the only sibling your brother hasn't killed yet." He stated to her but did not pause to allow her to respond.

"I will speak with and thank who ever it is above Youjoji here." He turned his attention to the humans. "My hunters, except for Grunti, will head back."

"I would have been lucky if I could have stayed. " She retorted annoyed at the sound coming out of her mouth, this time she had wanted it to be a whine. The only positive was that her annoyance at her new ability was taking away from the fact that she was in a lot of pain.

"Baki and Kankuro will escort you. " Gaara informed the man, making note that Eriko seemed to suddenly know their language.

* * *

><p>Youjoji sat in a room they told her to stay in...<p>

"I'm Kakio, I am supposed to treat you." The woman had brown eyes and dark blonde hair. She was large with curves similar to rolling hills. Youjoji just nodded her head uncertain about this woman or situation. The woman tried to shove her towards a bed, but she ducked away. Even though she was injured and in vibrating pain, she was not so weak that she could not stand against this female.

"You should be on the bed lying down! You are bleeding everywhere!" She exclaimed repeating herself several times.

"That thing is the bed, right?" Youjoji glanced at the softer looking flat table. It was not the same as the bed she slept on at Aarrra's but it also was not like the tables she served food to at Hajoh's.

"Yes, get on it before you pass out!" The woman tried to shoo her. Youjoji gave her a look as though she was crazy. Maybe it was better when she did not understand these humans.

With a limp she jumped up on the bed and sat as comfortably as she could. The woman came back over with a lot of small sharp objects and cloth strips. Youjoji eyed her carefully, but did nothing. She would see what the woman was going to do before she decided if she did not like it.

Dr. Kakio pressed lightly against the girl's ribcage. The girl inhaled sharply, and her eyes hardened. Apologizing, she picked up the wraps and sectioned off the area above and below the breaks and fractures. Slowly she brushed her hands over the injured ribcage mending some of the smaller fractures with her charka and setting the larger ones. She could not heal it all the way, but she could start the healing process and make sure the injured person would be as unhindered by the scars as possible. She was one of the best doctors in the sand village.

Youjoji was happy to feel the pain about her lungs lighten, though the woman's wrapping was annoying. She was not pressing the wrap tight enough and thus seemed to need to pin it together with sharp little metal pieces and wooden rods. Right before she was about to suggest that the woman let her do it, the door opened.

Aarrra entered with Baki and three older men and one old woman, all who she did not know. They looked very serious, and walked very slowly.

"We are the elders, I am Naomi, that is Hanzuk, Yoko,and Osumu. We want to know what you know about this Tomo." An older woman who had called herself Naomi spoke with a harsh tone. Youjoji allowed her eyes to go to Aarrra who gave her a slight nod.

"He is really strong and though he is blind he is a great hunter. He does not have many weak points, but his hair is one and he is not one for ducking or dodging." She answered the woman.

"Not about his fighting weaknesses! How about his village or his politics?" Hanzuk snapped at her. She ignored the vicious tone in his voice.

"I do not know what you mean by politics, but he does not have a village, unless you are referring to the ones that have come to exist in his territory. Those villages, he generally leaves alone unless they try to kill his hunters. I think once he helped a village but that was more he was just defending what was his and they were saved in the process. At least that is what my mother told me." She answered, glancing down at the nurse who was applying a stinging gel on to the small cuts which covered her leg. Sometimes the blonde took a small metal beak looking thing and dug out a piece of clear rock from her skin which also hurt.

"Your mother? You mean you don't know him personally?" Baki asked confused.

"No, this is the first time I met him in person." She informed honestly.

"Then how did you know he was going to attack us?" Yoko asked waving his cane. Youjoji made a mental note that old people with wooden sticks liked to wave them at her.

"He was outside his territory and your ninjas were not with him. When you bring people here, they always have your ninjas with them." She stated, wondering if she had messed up in thinking that ninjas always went with visitors.

"You should come up with a better lie. Do you really expect us to believe that because he was just walking or running outside of his home, you knew he was going to attack?" Naomi's voice held a tone Youjoji did not like.

"At first, I thought he was possibly wanting to expand his territory which would have meant putting us under his rule, however he said he was hunting and that he would leave the sand as soon as he was done I knew something was bad., I figured the humans have something to do with it since they smelled of him. Plus, he was headed straight here though I told him to go a different route." She explained.

"Why didn't you warn us?" Hanzuk asked. Youjoji eyes locked on to the man's.

"Trying to catch something that is running away is exciting; if he had decided I was apart of his target I would have just brought them all into the village excited to catch and kill." She stared at the man as her voice left the room in a cold silence.

"This one is horrible, it's going to need stitches." Kakio commented looking at a large gash on the girl's arm. She was trained to ignore what was said around her, so that someone might be treated without worry that the information was going to be passed on. The blonde woman looked at her supplies that she had brought over and then got up to wander about the room.

"I have a question." Osumu who was keeping quiet spoke up.

"You seem know more of this Tomo than us, so what will he want in trade for water?" He asked, hoping to get some insight.

Youjoji just paused as her mind rolled over the idea trade with Tomo. She glanced at the people before her and then over to Aarrra. She was not certain if they were serious in the question.

"Trade with Tomo?" She asked to clarify.

"Yes." The man answered, silencing the others.

"Tomo does not trade. One of us younger ones might, maybe, but we don't generally trade. We have what we need, or we get it, and if we don't we move or join up with someone else or die. There is no trading." She explained confused on how trading was a good idea.

"But if you want water like a river…" She thought for a brief second. "Then tell him you want apart of a river, like one of the really fat ones that are easy to get in and out of. And one that doesn't dry up suddenly!" She informed them with a childish smile, thinking about some of the large rivers she had seen.

"Even though you suddenly have come up with the ability to understand and communicate with us, you are no more useful than when you could not!" Naomi snorted. There was no way that anyone would act like this girl was describing, and that giving up a river, a livelihood was as easy as she described it.

"I believe we are done here." She glanced up towards the Kazekage before turning on foot to lead the others off. Aarrra glanced at her on the way out. Youjoji wondered what she did wrong.

"Alright, finally found the needle." The woman exclaimed coming back with a needle and a single thin thread coming off it. Youjoji glanced over at her warily. The woman sat down with a nice warm smile and started to wash the girl's gash.

"Did I say something wrong to them?" She asked the only one left in the room.

"The elders? No, though it is strange you did not say more about the topics since you obviously know them and understand what is going on." She explained, pushing the edges of the gash towards each other.

"But there was nothing more, that's just how it is. You make things confusing… And… What. Are. You. Doing!?" Eriko suddenly pulled away as she saw the sharp object pointed towards her skin.

"I'm going to sew up the wound." She explained, looking up at the girl as if she was supposed to know what that meant.

"I'm going to close it with the thread." She elaborated after noting the girl's clueless look.

"Can't you just lick it?" Eriko asked horrified at the idea of a piece of thread holding her skin together. The woman laughed.

"No silly, we are going to stitch it together." She made a weaving motion with the thin piece of metal. Eriko cocked her head. She thought the piece of thread was going to go straight down the cut and make it stick together like the blood of pine trees did.

"Thread together, see." The woman picked up a piece of her shirt and stitched into it. Eriko's eyes widened. There was no way she was going to allow someone to do that to her skin!

* * *

><p>Gaara sat around the table again, this time instead of the river village leaders there was a tall man with long gray brown hair named Tomo, and his escort named Grunti.<p>

"So you are the leaders." He stated keeping his green eyes staring a head.

"Yes, I am the Kazekage, this is Naomi, Hanzuk, Baki, Osumu, and Yoko." He stated.

"I am Tomo of the grass and rivers. My territory spans from the prairie through the swamp and down towards the eastern shore" He informed them.

"You have attacked us without reason; we may forgive such a terrible action if you wish to cooperate with us and form a friendship from which we might mutually benefit from and share resources." Naomi stated harshly. The girl that was supposed to help them in understanding this new enemy had been of no help and she was frustrated.

"I think you misunderstand. Because I respect Kazekage here and I have decided to see this area as yours, I have come to sit here at your request since I did step foot on the sand. However, I do not need to share resources with you and I do not want your friendship nor is forgiveness anything I require as well." Tomo answered in a very straight manner. Normally he did not speak in such long sentences, but their misunderstanding of the situation and tone called for it.

"What about your son?" Baki mentioned remembering Matsuri's report.

"We, as we have stated, have great medical knowledge and we are allied with the Leaf Village who is known for the medical expertise. If we can come to some sort of understanding, we would try to cure him." Baki studied the man for any sign of a reaction but saw none.

"I will not give you the opportunity to trick me again for that is a much greater danger to our pack." He stated informing him that their offers were of no value to him.

"You are saying that you will not work with us in any way?" Hanzuk asked in shock, just as he was shocked that the girl had not tried to warn them that they were going to attack. He was certain the two were working together.

"As I see it, there is nothing for us to work towards." Tomo explained. His presence at the meeting showed his new found respect for them, he did not feel as though he needed to do anymore.

"We want a river." Gaara suddenly blatantly stated. Tomo paused, while the others looked over to him in shock. There was no way a village would give up a section of river in their land without something in return.

"You came here and attacked us. We want a wide river that flows year round." He elaborated as the man stayed quiet.

Tomo allowed silence to pass.

"You must forgive our Kazekage; he is still young and naïve to the ways of Trade and Alliances. Of course we will easily look over the attack for barrels of water, but we would not be so cruel as to take your whole lively hood from you!" Naomi jumped in as quick as she could seeing the man's still face to be a sign of danger.

"I believe I stated forgiveness is not something I require… And do not insult me to believe that my lively hood and my pack's strength is from one measly piece of a river." He told her in a firm voice, before softening it to address the Kazekage.

"Part of a large river? That what you are after?" He asked simply.

"Yes." He answered without hesitation.

"We have been busy tending our land and several have been injured or killed. It would do us good to not have the upwards river down near the tall grass on the far side. However, you must always declare yourself upon entering my territory and never hunt our wolves." He stated in a clear tone.

"That's the Golden Plain River." Yoko stated in disbelief.

"That river gives water to rice fields of the villages farther along it, are you certain?" Osumu asked.

"All the villages on my land have learned it is my land and there is nothing they can do to change it. They may welcome it becoming part yours, since I usually prefer to leave them to their own fates. " He informed them.

"Then it is settled." Gaara declared, rising to his feet.

"I am glad this turned out well for both of us and that no one was killed." Yoko smiled.

"Swear it." Tomo's voice had a deadly ring. Gaara paused.

"Swear it, that if you break this pact death will become you and I will swear the same. This is the honor that we hold." While the man's eyes were dead and unresponsive there was a hardness that suddenly seemed to form around them.

"I swear." Gaara stated in seriousness. He suddenly felt that Eriko's constant idea that there were many tricks out there had some background to it that he knew nothing of.

"And I swear as well. May our pact as it stands now be kept, or we come to painful deaths least it be broken." Tomo spoke with a cold tone before rising to his feet as well. The man turned and followed Grunti out. They waited for no dismissal and asked for no request.

"They are leaving the village." Gaara stated as he sensed through the sand their footprints. The two men quickly exited the building and then made their way through the village towards the wall.

"Maybe we should take this time to discuss this along with that girl then. She had been in our village for over a month now. That is a long time for a visitor." Naomi stated, her eyes drifting to the Kazekage. She was not suggesting that they discuss Eriko, she was telling. Briefly closing his eyes, the Kazekage sat back down.

"If he is going to allow us access to that river, and we build a way of transporting it, our village will never have trouble with water supply again." Yoko commented his mind a spin at the possibility.

"First he has to follow through with his promise." Naomi reminded them.

"I do not believe he would not, he was the one who made the Kazekage swear to keep it." Osumu commented.

"What about that girl, it is obvious they are similar." Hanzuk stated.

"Other than the information she failed in giving about Tomo, has she done anything beneficial during her time here?" Naomi asked cynically. Baki cleared his throat as he shuffled through a stack of papers. Finding the sheet he wanted, he began to answer Naomi's question.

"It is reported, that when we do know what she is up to, she trains a boy in the morning before working at Mr. Hajoh's shop for a few hours, then she goes over to construction over seen by Osimu, then she goes back to Mr. Hajoh's and finally she ends up helping a group of now 15 students with Matsuri. She is often seen with Matsuri, a boy named Takeo, or Mr. Hajoh if she is not busy doing any of the above, though she does seem to leave the village frequently and all attempts to follow her have failed." He reported.

"Where is she staying?" Yoko asked.

"My house." Gaara answered.

"Isn't that a little inappropriate?" Osimu countered.

"She can slip through the village undetected, and from observing parts of her fight with Tomo I can say clearly that she can most certainly be very dangerous if she ever decides to become a threat." Baki informed them.

"Even with our top spies?" Hanzuk asked.

"I can follow her footsteps across the sand if she is on it, however even when I coordinate the ninjas to her, they can never find her and she does not respond to people she does not know." Gaara informed them.

"Then maybe it is in the best interest of the village that we keep her close, so to be able to keep our eye on her." Naomi stated.


	2. Little Red Ridding Hood

_Mother..._

_Little Red sister - She's with her human hunter now, the ninja._

_We have no pack. What should we do, Gray sister? _

_We can be the same, follow Mother's hunting trails, live in the caves, find another pack. You, ninja…_

_I not! Hate humans!_

_Humans are not bad_

_We need a pack._

_We are ok_

_Mother..._

_Mother died._

Woooo-hoooowl-Woooo-OOOoooooo

The young two cried out in the night, their grieving howls carried across the night's sky.

**They were older - finally finding their place in life:**

_Little Red sister, run faster. That eagle found one._

_I'm running, Gray sister! Told you, Little screamer makes good pack-mate!_

_Eagles are not wolf pack! You Ninja!_

_I Not! Human lover!_

_Hurry it's going to escape!_

_I got it!_

_Yay, Fresh meat for me! _

The large eagle that had been circling the deer descended. These two were the two he had known his whole life. The red one who saved him, and the other large gray wolf who tried to play with him too much. While the one ate, he cleaned his feathers.

_We'll go to river next, Screamer._

_There might be the bear again._ Gray's tail wagged showing excitement at the idea of playing with the bear. Blood in her muzzle.

_Yes. The mother bear. We can leave her some too._

_We should stop by the dogs, they have good food too!_

_No. The humans throw arrows at us. I don't like them._

_It's ok. I'll go, wait till night. They would make good wolf pack._

_They not!_

_Eagle not. Bear not!_

_Eagle is! Bear is ok too! Not humans!_

_Red, Mother liked Humans._

_Fine. Only sometimes though. Only sometimes. And not the bad ones!_

…

**And Then This Day Came -**

Loud booms came from multiple places, not just the mountain they were on, but their other peaks too. The ground under them shook. Earth began to move, snow from the top, trees pushed down, mud and earth all rolling down...

_RUN! RUN! _ Gray barked out as the earth shook as mud, ground, and snow spilled downward.

_Everyone, Eagle, Cat, Bear, Ferret - All - ALL IN THE MOUNTAINS, RUN!_

_Red - the humans don't know!_

_Leave them! We need to escape_

_Yip! Watch out! We are being split!_

_GRAY!_

_Call for me. When it settles. I'll call for you too. Red!_

The earth separated them. The falling earth rolled down the mountain swallowing everything.

* * *

><p>"I called you here because this mission will require the Inuzuka clan's touch. There's reports of massive landslides at wolf demon mountain. We need a search and rescue team to find and help relocate the villages who lived there. Also, tend to any threats that may arise with the chaos. Although it's been years since the report of the large dominate wolf's death, there are still multiple packs in that area along with other wildlife and possibly criminal hideouts. Right now, there are at least 5 small mountainous villages, 120 people missing. We will need all of you, Tsume, Hana, Kiba – along with your companions, Kuromaru, Haimaru brothers, and Akamaru to assist in finding them. I have also asked Ino to gather supplies and lead a team of medics to staff the camp. This is the map of the area."<p>

"120 people?"

"The numbers are not confirmed – 5 small mountain villages, maybe 6 according to a survey 3 years ago..."

"Aright. We'll head out! Call the others." Tsume, their mother, took lead.

* * *

><p>Dark, cramped, smashed... Red had ended up under the dirt wave.<p>

_Gray_. _Eagle. Bear. Cat. Ferret..._ She whine thinking of her 'pack' mates. Other wolf packs did not like her. Dogs did, but she did not like their human counter parts. Humans were not trustworthy. They lied, captured her, tortured her. Gray knew of her wounds but did not hold the same fear or aggression towards humans as she did. The larger wolf had not been caught like she had. Gray could wag her tail and do a play bow with anyone... she could not. She didn't have that confidence...

Red started to dig upward. She needed to get out. She was going to get out. Dirt fell on to her face as her nails scratched away at the earth. She would make it out! She needed to find Gray. Gray was her confidence!

...

WOOOOooooooo WOOOOoooooOOOoooOOOOoooooo, WhoooooWOOoooooOOOooo Oooo.

She howled out, calling to all.

A sharp cry from the sky above gave a response.

_Eagle - Screamer._

The massive bird dove down and landed on her shoulders. It groomed her briefly before checking itself too. The earth was now covering most everything on the 3 mountains. There was lava coming out of the southern one, and the bad humans moving up on the western one. The non-bad human packs and dens were all now covered, the rivers were covered, the trees were covered. Everything was covered.

_Find Chatty Ferret and Fat Cat. I'll find Mother Bear and Gray!_ Red snorted the dirt out of her nose.

_I will fly. I look for rivers too._ The Eagle reminded her. They would need water, and he wanted fish later.

_Yes._ She responded. She knew it was the humans that did this. Those nasty vile animals.

Red took off running.

_Gray! GRAAAYYYYY! Bear! BEEEAAAAARRRRR!. _She called, searching.

The humans did this. She knew it. The humans did this for sure!

Dirt - where there use to be trees, Snow - where there use to be dirt. Earth - were there use to be water. Smell of blood from crushed bodies, but no scent of Gray or Bear.

_REEDDDDDDDD. REDDDDDD. WHOOOOooooOOOOOoooOOO. _

The call was faint, but it was enough to jerk Red's body 180 degrees instantly

_Gray!_

She ran fast and hard.

Not on all fours, but 2 legs. She ran. Gray might be in trouble!

A gust of wind held her sister's scent and in the distance was the outline of a large gray wolf. Her grey eyes locked on to form, recognizing it instantly as her sister.

_Red! I need your help! Come Red. Come!_ The howl echoed through the now barren land. Motivated, Red ran even faster, the red cloak whipping behind her in the wind.

_We need to get him out. It's our old male human!_ Gray was digging her paws in the spot as hard and fast as she could.

Red paused a moment, her matted long blonde fur thrust forward by her dramatic halt. She didn't like humans, even him who threw them food she was cautious of. Red knew the human Gray was trying to dig out. The old male one who picked at plants and did not yell. He gave her the red cloaks like the wolf mother had once given her (stealing them from villages).

_Ok. Dig quick. We'll get him out for you. _Red finally stated, launching her body forward - landing beside the massive wolf. Red's human-like paws dug into the earth as quickly as her sister's were. Gray wanted this human saved, she'd help too then.

_It's the human cave! I smell blood! _They broke through the roof, pushing through the brick quickly.

_But not death!_ Red reminded gray, feeling her sister's panic. Gray liked this human!

_He's close._

_I got him._ Red's hands grasped the parts of the man's body she could get to. The dirt was packed around him, so she kept digging him out as she carefully tugged on him. They had dug through a village hut, had broken its roof, and kept digging in.

_I smell others!_ Gray instantly started digging for the others, making their large hole even bigger.

_Hey. Just him!_ Red snarled .

_We help them too! They are his pack._ Gray responded digging more despite her sister's aggression.

Red had gotten the man's body out. He was breathing, but just barely. The human cave had stopped most of the crushing force of the earth, probably saving his life.

"Mmmmm_" _He moaned causing Red to grit and show her teeth. Even though he was a half dead elder, she didn't trust them. And! She didn't like Gray digging more of them out!

_Help me! We should get them out!_ Gray begged.

Red's eyes reflected her snarl. She didn't want to help them! Bear, Cat, and Ferret were still missing! Why were they helping the poisonous human creatures!?

_OOOoooooOOOOOOooo WOOOOoooooOOOooo_

Tsume's headshot up hearing the booming howl. Kiba grit his teeth and his sister Hana increased her speed.

"The wolves found one of the higher human villages!" Kuomaru, Tsume's companion announced what they all knew. They were working on the lower villages and some of the other ninjas had been sent to the volcanic mountain to stop the lava.

"We need to hurry." Tsume barked the statement out as an order.

Akamaru tilted his head while running and howled back to the wolves.

Riding on the large dog, Kiba could feel the vibration of sound and volume. The Haimaru brothers joined in, announcing to the wolves their presence. Demanding them to stay back from the humans - that the humans were theirs!

_WhooooooOOOoooOOOooo OooooOOOooOOo WOOOOOooOOoOOOOOooooooooOOOooooo_

Both of their heads snapped in the direction the howls came from. _Canines, on the hunt!_ The unknown callers were declaring the humans were theirs, making threats, challenging dominance.

The villagers who were now uncovered, were starting to awake and huddle together. The wild wolf and wolf-girl were in front of them and now there was the potential wolf pack members coming to eat them. The elder man who had awoken looked at the two who had dug everyone out. He had never known them to be with other wolves...

_The humans are ours. Do not threaten our territory._

_We do not challenge your territory, but go near the humans and we'll stop you._

_Who are you to stop us? These mountains are ours. Stay away from our domain!_

_We will be here for only a short while, but do not test us at that time. You will be put down! The humans are ours!_

_No! Everything here is ours! You enter OUR territory, take heed, Show Respect!_

Tsume, Kuromaru, Hana, the Haimaru brothers, Kiba and Akamaru all jumped into sight instantly, all on the defensive. The wolves who were threatening the villagers were here in front of a large huddle of terrified villagers.

_Stand down! _ Gray snarled, causing the dog companions to snarl back

_HUMANS!_ Red barked, enraged to not only see those who were threatening them, but the monsters she disliked the most! Tsume, Hana, and Kiba's eyes all widened in shock.

"What the!?" Kiba shouted. The wolves were not wolves, but a single large gray wolf and a red cloaked wild-eyed, snarling blonde woman.

"Wait!" An elder behind the two snarling females spoke up. The Kohona ninjas looked over at him. He did not seem to be afraid of the two in front of him.

_Hurt him, I rip your throat out._ Gray heard the elder and flicked her ears towards him to listen - but still threatened those who had threatened them.

_Stay back!_ Red snapped at them. Where these the ones who caused this!? She knew it was vial humans who did it!

"Wait! Wait. Wait." The elder repeated. The ninjas motioned for their companions to stand down and stood down themselves.

_We won't attack._ Kuromaru sat down, no longer snarling or threatening - as he was told.

For a moment Red stopped snarling and eyed this large dog... This black large dog had spoken as a dog and with human tongue at the same time...

_You speak human._ She accused him. Had the human's done something to him? Made him sick?

_Who are you?_ Gray asked next, calmer especially since the old man was slowly moving to stroke her fur now.

Gray liked it when he did that. Her tail even started a slow wag.

_Don't let him stroke your fur!_ Red noticed, instantly jealous and annoyed. She didn't like these humans! It drove her nuts how close Gray could get to him. Instantly she moved to butt her head against Gray's shoulder.

_Don't touch her so freely!_ She half-growled at the old man, causing the Haimaru brothers to put their ears back at her threatening tone. The elder was use to the finicky wild girl and showed no mind to her snarls at him.

"It's ok. They are the ones who dug us out. The girl grew up with wolves and doesn't like humans, that's why she growled. She truly means no harm." The elder quickly explained seeing the ninja dogs snarl again.

"Our village was buried."Another man spoke up, finally courageous enough to stand.

"We know - we were sent to assist. There's shelter set up at the base of the mountains and medical tents." Hana stepped forward, instantly causing the girl to lock eyes on her.

"Our livelihoods..." A woman moaned and started to cry.

"We need food and water. Some of us cannot walk - others do not awake. Many are dead." A man explained, face, clothes, hair, skin - all covered in dirt.

_We shouldn't trust them._ Red's lips twitched. She didn't like this - the two human groups talking to each other.

The human male riding the large white dog was staring at her, and the two human females were constantly glancing over. It made her become even more uncomfortable and aggravated.

_They don't seem bad. They didn't attack - and that one's the same size as me!_ Gray found things to like about them, giving a half wag of a tail.

_I don't like them._ Red rebutted Gray, showing her teeth to the human and the large dog. His eyes narrowed at her and he snorted to say he didn't care what she thought - as if he understood her...

_You don't like any humans._ Gray muzzled her sister, feeling the anxiety radiating from her. Red eyed the human who had snorted, suspicious.

_Even more to my point. Let's go find our pack mates._ Red pushed Gray wanting to leave. She had dug out the humans, her part was done. She didn't like these new humans, who were looking at her strange.

_What if these humans are bad - we can't leave the elder. He'll die._

_YOU ARE WORRIED FOR THEM! They are human, I'm sure they'll survive! _The ferociousness of the girl's growl brought all human conversation to a dead stop. All eyes were on the two in the center, who originally were defending the villagers from the ninja strangers.

_We can't leave elder - he'll stand no change against them._

_And what about our pack mates?_

_One of us can look, and the other can stay here. My nose is better - you can protect elder._

_The human!? WITH MORE HUMANS!? I'm not staying with humans and dogs! _Red backed herself up away from Gray, growling. Her sister was so idiotic at times!

_I stay? Just till we see if these unknown humans and dogs are ok!_

_Fine. You stay. Call me, any time - I'll come._ Red snorted, annoyed at this arrangement. Gray was always going into human villages. The wolf constantly bothered her about picking up non-wolf pack-mates and then she does things like this!

_Try anything. Think of attacking my sister - and I'll rip all your throats out._ The girl snarled at the newcomers, her eyes serious, her threat very real.

_We won't harm the villagers or your sister._ Kuromaru gave his word.

_You're just a human in wolf fur!_ She snarled back, untrusting - as she started to leave.

_Call for me._ Red yipped one more time at Gray before running off. Gray was the largest wolf around, Red trusted her sister even if she didn't trust any of the others there.

* * *

><p>"Who is that girl!?" Tsume demanded to know, her eyes like a dangerous wolf.<p>

"She's the wolf girl. A large demon wolf raised her, but when it died, the girl chose to stay with wolves - although this one is the only wolf on the mountain." The elder stated, gesturing to the large grey wolf.

"That girl has the wolf demon in her - that's why she acts like that!" a woman informed them.

"She's some sort of monster! Look at the size of that wolf of hers!" A man added.

"This wolf and that girl has helped us out a number of times. The first time I met them one, they saved me from a bear." The elder spoke up again. "This gray one here, acts like a dog at times - even likes playing with our dogs and kids, but that girl... she's always growling like that when unknown people are around. I feed her my herbs and breads, give a cloak here and there - she only likes red ones... But, she doesn't speak and she'll bite if you get too close to her..."

"She's a demon."

"A dog demon."

"A monster."

"That's enough!" Tsume silenced them. She could see why the girl was aggressive.

"We are here to assist with search and rescue. We'll help take you down to shelter and get you medical attention." Hana explained noticing the fear the villagers now had of her mother.

"Akamaru will help carry those who can't walk." Kiba announced.

_I won't let you hurt them._ Gray informed them, uncertain and unconfident. She couldn't fully understand the human language, only their bodies, tones, and mannerisms. There was some annoyance in the group and some happiness - she couldn't tell why. It confused her.

Kiba's eyes narrowed while his sister showed no change in emotion. His mother however curled her lip back in an annoyed snarl and gave the passive wolf a glare. They were ninja - of course they were not going to hurt the villagers!

Gray's ears flicked once before she positioned herself close to the elder's side. He seemed ok, good. She looked them over again, the strangers, then gave them a few wags of her tail. They would be fun playmates at least!

_You should act your age, puppy._ Kuromaru snorted, speaking the words with the human tongue as well.

_Did getting a human stuck in your throat, cause you to talk like that?_

_We could take you on easily._ The Haimaru brothers barked, unsure of her.

_Doubt it - maybe later, we'll see._ She responded with a hint of play.

_Human yours?_ Akamaru asked, glancing between the two. The elder seemed too old and slow for the grey wolf female who was about his size.

_No - Red is. I just like him. He scratches behind my ears and gives me good snacks._ Gray smirked, pleased with herself.

"Come on. Let's go." Kiba stated, half to Akamaru and half to the female wolf who seemed to be distracting him, and the others.

"Let's move!" Hana announced, also shooing her own companions.

"We'll get you to safety. Never doubt the Inuzuka ability!" Tsume declared.

The villagers were successfully moved, with the large grey wolf tagging along. The village children seemed to take no heed to her, sometimes even reaching their hands out to grab and pet her fur - while the village adults mostly eyed her suspiciously. It was easy to tell the villages knew this wolf although the ninjas did not.

"Kiba!" Ino announced walking out of the tent.

"You guys found more?" Sakura stated next, stretching her hands. The refuge was slowly getting larger, with now 50 accounted for and over 85 more to go.

"Yeah - ran into a local wolf and its girl." Kiba stated, pointing to the massive gray wolf.

"He's as large as Akamaru! Is he safe!?" Ino's pitch went high, instantly catching the wolf's full attention.

"SHE's friendly enough, can't say the same about the wild chick though! Should have seen her, bitch was crazy - non-stop growling!" Kiba informed them, still unable to wrap his head around the blonde girl.

"What?" Sakura asked, eyeing the massive wolf.

"It seems the girl was raised by wolves - the villagers believe there's a demon in her and that this wolf here is half demon... However, from what I can tell, the girl doesn't know how to talk and this wolf is just large, like Akamaru here. No demon or monster involved..." Hana explained.

"That girl thought she could take us on though - ha! Never messed with someone from the Inuzuka clan!" Tsume scoffed.

"Mother. She growled that at everyone." Kiba sighed - though the girl's threats had been annoying. She hadn't singularly picked anyone out.

The grey wolf moved back and forth between the elder and children and then made a round on the whole camp, taking in the smells of everyone.

They watched her as she calmly walked through their tents, half a wag here, a whine there. She walked in and out of every tent. From how the villagers reacted, they all knew her though they were all still suspicious of her. The paw prints she made were nothing like the village dogs. Her eyes unwavering as she continued around the village, memorizing the new territory.

"Think she'd help us?" Hana asked her family members and their companions.

"She's friendly with the humans. She's making sure we didn't do anything to any of them. She might help." Kuromaru stated.

"I'd be more worried about that girl, her fear of us could put the wolf on edge." Kiba eyed the large wolf who play bowed at a dog.

"But Akamaru has a good feeling about this one - says she'll probably help." He added after Akamaru's whine.

"Mm, Maybe she'll consider coming back to Kohona with us. We could do with another strong bitch in our group." Kiba's mother put her hand on her hip, carefully eyeing the massive female canine. There was nothing showing an inferior bloodline - in fact the wolf seemed to be in great physical condition.

"Hey you!" She barked at the female, gaining her attention. "I got a proposal!" She shouted.

Gray heard the mother-dog-like-woman. Her eyes locked on the human female. A stare between the two occurred and Gray slowly walked forward towards the group of strange humans. Their canine companions were all eyeing her as she came forward. The large white one whined half welcoming her, half uncertain. The three brothers were certainly uncertain, given her size and lack of domestication. However, the elder black dog that could speak with a human tongue kept his body language quiet.

"I have a proposition for you to take back to your pack." Tsume repeated herself firmly, dominantly.


	3. This isn't Cosplay

Rachel.

Family - Junkyard Dogs

Education - Drop Out

Job history - A long list of shit.

Occupation - Junk Yard Owner, Mechanic, Welder and Local Gang "Associate"... with a sealed juvie record.

...

* * *

><p>...<p>

Rachel's brunette hair was cut short. Dyke, they called her behind her back - the kids who walked by her Junk yard on the way to school. Goth, Punk, Bitch... All just words they would throw out. Though sometimes, good things would escape their mouths too. Things like 'That's awesome!', 'Did you really build that!?', 'Where'd you get that pierced?' 'I like your hair!'.

Honestly, she didn't know how to act in normal society. She didn't go out in normal society, except to fix their expensive broken things that she herself wouldn't dare spend money on. "Her" house was once his house. "Her" junk yard, had been his. He had willed everything to her - the unworthy her. Telling her to toss it or keep it, that he didn't care - it was "all just stinking junk anyway, shit other people don't want. Ain't much, but hey if you can make something of it, go right ahead."

Rachel worked on the windmill. There was a church wanting to buy it, if she could get it to work. There was also those roof heating projects, the stupid 1989 car, and she could not forget about the dune buggy. All of which already had interested buyers. Also, she was going to need to build a greenhouse, if she could get some help - although getting cheap help was a problem. She hated paying others for work, she barely afforded property taxes on the hole in the ground place... She was happy she got paid for taking people's shit, literally - and paid for re-selling it to them (suckers).

A car pulled into her drive. The dogs barked, informing her of his entry. The Rottweiler, Kimie, the German Sheppard, Kenny, the Pitbul lab mix, Kristy, and the "cute" fluff ball of a small poodle, Kracker-jack. Everyone would be wary of Kimie, Kenny, and Kristy - but no, it was "Jack" as the shelter had called him who was the true evil little monster - and since his name didn't start with a K- she renamed him Kracker-jack. A fitting name for a crazy ankle biting dog.

Kracker led the attack - running to meet the car.

"KRACKER-JACK!" She yelled instantly. He stopped his tracks teeth showing as he barked, ears down, tail not wagging.

"Go back inside! Inside now!" With a wave of her hand, she shoo-ed the little monster. Whatever posessed her to adopt him, she did not know. With a snap of her fingers, she announced "Sit" to those who were more behaved, aka the other three.

Kimie was lazy. Sure, she'd bark, but more to say hey there's someone here. Once they weren't doing anything, she'd lay down and drool - everywhere. Kristy was smart, a bit of a knuckle head, but smart. Her tail would be going and her smile would be a mile wide (most confused it with a scary mouth of teeth from a viscous "dangerous" dog). Kenny was old so he sat for a moment, before joining Kracker-jack, back inside.

_Men_. _Useless._ Rachel shook her head as only her female dogs stayed correctly.

"Fuck." She cursed. It was an unmarked cop car. Again. Fuckers couldn't leave her the fuck alone. Dirty-stinking, fucking cops.

"Hey." He greeted. At least this officer, she could stand. Officer Meyer. Usually if she called something in, which she always did for anything suspcious, she would hope it was him.

"What?" Her tone sharp. He wasn't here to buy shit. And she wasn't doing anything illegal (that he could tell anyway).

"We gotta clear up some paperwork for you down at the corner office."

"There ain't no fucking paperwork."

"Look we need you to come down. It's on the property clauses. Bring your car - not the bike." He added.

She glared. There were no property clauses, but as far as the gangs knew cause of her being suspected of illegitimate business and money laundering, they were always checking her property clauses, getting a warrant to search her place, pulling her in for questioning, etc, etc, etc. While only some of that was true, the rest of it was freaking cover-up talk so they could try to get her to fucking rat out people. Rachel wasn't stupid, she was never going to fucking say shit - she knew how it work. Coppers only kept fucking jail away, not the gangbangers who would fucking kill her and more so, her dogs! Fuck that shit.

Rachel glared.

"Come on, get going. You don't have that much for business today anyway."

"Who the fuck are you to say what I have for business today!?" She shot back.

"Hey. We can get a warrant to search the place... check your numbers again and all."

"Never said I wasn't coming. Gotta fucking lock up, get the dogs inside and all so no one hurts them..." Rachel turned with an eye roll. Kimie and Kristy followed her instantly both picking up on her pissed off mood.

"Everyone inside." She shoo-ed them all into the pathetic place she called an office building and garage. Shutting doors, the signs clearly read "Closed", "Beware of dogs", and the most important "trespassers will be shot".

The 'car' was old and lucky she could fix it up as many times as she did. The engine turned over before it actually started. Fucking coppers. If they were going to pull her into a gang war - She didn't know what she would do...

Rachel got to their "office", fucking lockup, parked and went in. Officer Meyer, and his dick-wad partner, who didn't even deserve to be remembered by name, were waiting. Of course dick-wad was eating a doughnut - as if he couldn't stink even more. Pig.

"Let's go - in this room, right here. Gotta check your paperwork. There's no way a trash junk yard like yours makes money without you doing shit on the side. So you selling drugs - cause if you are, we are going to find it." Meyer kept talking as he led her through a maze of desks, down a hall, till finally he was in a room. They had been interacting enough, she knew what he was saying was just made-bullshit to help her keep her skin.

"Alright, so you know those two? The RXs had them pinned in a fight - if one of ours hadn't rolled by when they did, these two would be dead." Rachel looked through what she hoped was a one way mirror.

Beaten up on the other side were two men dressed up in cosplay as Gaara and Naruto...

"Gaara and Naruto?" She stated out loud. What the hell? The gangs were now interested in beating up people at anime convensions? That's a riot! Of course, it wouldn't be the dumbest thing some of their members did (in her opinion). She didn't participate in such things, ha! But she knew the manga...

"So you do know them." Meyer looked from her back at them.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now?" She snapped back at him.

"That's what they stated their names where -from some Hidden village... we figured they were actually from one of your "Hidden Treasure" promotions and got the name wrong." Rachel couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth. Idiot. Complete and utter idiot... Then again, he was a cop...

"Yeah - I didn't hire them. Not their employer, and you should know I don't have the funds to hire people anyway. So. We done?"

"Sure, We were going to let them go anyway - though none of their story makes any sense, so I was hoping they were with you... But let me get one more thing and then you can be on your way." Meyer sighed. He had hoped she could clear up the mess and just take the weirdoes with her. The kids these days...

Rachel hit the com key. She knew how this side of the room worked. She also knew they were watching her - but whatever, they were the ones that left her alone.

"Hey Gaara, I'm getting hungry. Do you think they'll feed us ramen?" The Naruto dressed up man asked the Gaara dressed up man. They were probably about her age... Their costumes where spot on, hair too. She could probably make youtube videos of them and post it as Ninja vs Cop - Cop won. Fans would cry.

She smirked at that thought. Even ninjas couldn't sneak past the cops. Funny. Showed their stupidity too.

"We need to get the scroll and find a way back. Hopefully in explaining our situation, they will choose to assist us. The enemy nin seem to have already made allies in this strange world." Gaara lead forward his elbows on the table, fingers interlaced.

They were pretty good at playing their roles. Keeping in character - but... considering their situation, it was _odd_.

"Dattebayo! I don't know why my clone jutsu didn't work. And that metal thing of theirs did! I don't have any of my strength. I couldn't even run up the wall!"

_Ok... _Rachel, was starting to think twice about them.

"I know. It seems in this world we don't have our strength, speed, or chakra. It also seems they use weapons here like that metal thing that shot holes in the wall, or the chain. And their hand to hand fighting is mostly punching with some kicking..." The Gaara-dressed-up-man spoke.

Rachel's eyes narrowed. These people were loney toons. It was one thing to dress up, but they were fully in character. Didn't they realize they were probably one step away from being locked up or in a straight jacket!? And, after what she just heard - she'd go for straight jacket.

These people were going to need help. Maybe she could point the cops in the direction of the right people to talk to. Quickly, Rachel took out her phone and googled "Anime Convention near me."

Nada - Nothing - Zip.

Getting smart, she tried a few other searches.

Nope. None.

That feeling of frustration she tended to get when she was about to do something stupid came over her. Fuck, she couldn't just let the idiots get forced into a hospital to be placed on society-acceptance-pacifying drugs... If nothing else, they were idiots, which technically (sadly) wasn't a crime.

"Hey Officer Meyer." Rachel could hear herself saying.

This was going to be way worse than adopting "Jack", she knew it.

"Officer Meyer!" She called to him. "Hey - they getting charged with anything?"

...

Gaara sat in the small room as they were informed to do, silently - or as silently as possible with Naruto in the same room.

"How long do you think they are going to make us sit in here?" Naruto asked his friend who was with him.

"Not sure, but if this is all they do, we should be thankful." Gaara answered. Normally strange ninjas were interrogated in his village... and not always nicely.

The door opened as if on cue and one of the men that had helped saved them from strange ninjas.

"Alright guys, follow me." Officer Meyer informed the semi-beat up men. Masked ninjas as a perp description wasn't going to go well. "We'll be on the lookout for the suspect, but we may need to be in contact with you if we have more questions or a line up later." He informed them out of habit.

"A suspect?" Naruto repeated back confused.

"Thank you." Gaara spoke before Naruto could continue.

"And this is your employer, right? She'll take you back." Officer Meyer asked with a wink, secretly hoping they'd catch the drift. His city was gang ridden, but half of the gangs were simple protection and drugs - the other half, were violent. He didn't need any more trouble than they already dealt with.

"Not employer, acquaintance."Rachel corrected and then whispered under her breath - "you owe me."

"Yep." He muttered back, hoping it was just another case of 'kids these days' with what they were wearing.

"Naruto, Gaara, let's go." She announced walking abruptly ahead of them to lead them to her car. _THIS_ was why he wanted her to bring the car! He knew she'd take them. Just like the animal shelter knew for Jack too!

"I need to learn to say no." She spoke out loud annoyed.

A couple of people eyed them as they walked out, but who wouldn't with how the two were dressed, especially if anyone knew of the anime or manga!

"OMG - It's cos'play!" A high squealing voice announced.

Rachel paused at the horror that was heading their way.

"RUN or I'm leaving you!" She yelled. No way was she standing their while people gawked over these two loony-toons!

Gaara followed suit instantly, not sure what he was running from, but this girl seemed to know who they were and the other man said she would take them back to the others.

"Let us get a photo!"

"Quick, quick, quick - get in!" Rachel put her keys into the car, jumping in and unlocking all other doors manually - because the car was old. The two loony toons just stopped at the car.

"GET IN! OPEN THE DOOR AND GET IN, IT'S UNLOCKED!" Rachel yelled fully aggravated. She could see it now - jail time due to running over crazy anime fans!

As if they didn't know how, both stumbled about getting in the car. Rachel scowled as they figured out how to shut the doors - way too slowly. The Naruto-one sat in the passenger seat, the Gaara-one in the back.

The engine turned over twice before starting up. Rachel could see the fans coming up towards the car as she finally was able to pull away into busy traffic.

"So where are you too loony toons from?" She asked, hoping it wasn't some place out of the city. Gas was money.

"Kohona." Naruto answered, confused on what a loony toon was.

"Suna." Gaara answered as well, wondering if the name was some local dialect. Supposedly, everything was supposed to be translated with the jutsu that brought them - but, still he found they were unable to fully understand.

"You know us, but we don't know you. How do we know you aren't the enemy?" The Gaara one asked, voice smooth and semi-cold.

Rachel glanced into her rear-view mirror to meet his eyes. _Seriously?_

"You don't. But if you want to get out, let me know. If you ask night, I might even stop." She answered back, getting a feeling that maybe she shouldn't be trusting them either. This was how they showed gratitude!?

"We need to get back to Matsuri, Kakashi, Sakura, and Sai." Gaara informed her.

"Where?" Rachel asked, recognizing all of those names (Loony toons!)

"We were separated by the area where there was a gate, uh buildings like those, a thing like this, and not many trees." Naruto tried to describe it, pointing to a bunch of buildings that she was driving by and describing just about anywhere.

Rachel to suddenly feel angry. Here she was vulnerable with 2 unknown guys in her vehicle... This was so much stupider than taking Jack home...

"You just described any area. So then, where are you staying?"

"We are supposed to find a ninja named Tanaka Kento." The Gaara one answered.

"Oh... kay..." Rachel was getting a stronger and stronger feeling that this was a bad-bad-bad idea.

"Do you know where we can find him?" The Naruto one asked, naively.

"If you two do anything funny - I swear..." Rachel started muttering under her breath.

"Ok." She repeated again. Illegally she pulled out the only expensive thing that was worth money, her phone. Typing in the name she searched hear area. Nothing... again. She slipped the phone away to not get caught by cops, since the major overhaul on "no texting while driving". Like she had someone to text!

"Nope - don't know where you can find him. So, where can I take you?" She felt herself getting aggravated. Gaara noticed.

"Where would you suggest?" Gaara asked. She was the only person currently assisting them, even if she was aggressive.

"How much do you have for a hotel?" Rachel, put her turn signal on (and thankfully it worked!) There were a couple cheap hotels a couple blocks away.

"Uhhhh." The Naruto one pulled out a frog purse with odd looking coins in it.

"US dollars, any cards?"

"Kakashi and Matsuri had most of the currency for this world." The Gaara-one informed her, believing that was the answer she was looking for.

Crazy people. She had picked up crazy people. It was almost like the small yappy crazy poodle all over again, except in 2 grown men sized and sooo much worse. Rachel could feel herself externally sigh, wishing only to undo this horrible decision.

"Do you think you could help us?" Naruto asked her, sensing a gloomy aurora suddenly setting in around her. She was the one controling the strange mental vechical they were in - similar to the transportation that had picked them up from the alleyway but without the bars and with fabric seats.

"If you are unable to, we understand. If you are able to, we will find a way to pay you back." Gaara decided to add. It was wrong to go to a new place and expect them to accommodate everything. Here they were not alleys, they were not even known - let alone speak the same langauge...

Rachel could feel her blood boil. The only place she had, was her place. These were two men who needed a place. She was a female who lived alone, with a few dogs. The man who had helped her when she was younger would help them too... But, that didn't mean it was safe either. As if she lived a safe life...

"Alright. I have a spare room. You can stay there till you figure out what you are doing... But try any funny shit and you'll find out why they say, Hell has No Fury..." She didn't finish the phrase and looked both them in the eyes - Naruto-one directly, the Gaara-one through the rear view mirror.

"Thank you!" Naruto didn't know the rest of the sentance she had tried to make, but her place had to have ramen right!?

Gaara made note of the threat. She didn't trust them, but then again he was a Kage and Naruto known as the strongest ninja of Kohona.

"You have ramen right?" His happy go-lucky, wanting voice (exactly the same as the anime), made her want to run the car into a pole right then in there. WHO were these people!? And how were they staying in character SO well!

"No. Any food you want has to be paid for with manual labor." She growled out. Food was money too! Didn't they know this!?

"Ok!" Naruto agreed. He was the strongest ninja, there was no way he couldn't pay for an endless supply of food that way!

"Sounds reasonable." Gaara also agreed.

"Hn" Rachel responded.

They were still in character... Stil! Loony-toons.

..

* * *

><p>..<p>

"You guys are staying in the side trailer - It has a bathroom, water, fridge, microwave, heat and air - I just have to turn on the water and electricity to it, and I might have blankets. My place will be locked. If you eat any food, I expect you to do work in the morning." Rachel laid out the rules.

"Oh, and hurt one of my dogs - and I'll kill ya." She added, hearing the barking as she pulled in.

She turned off the car and got out, not even waiting for a response. She needed to get the electricity back on to that hole of a trailer and make sure the water and everything still worked. Sighing she got to work going to the fuse box first and then to the water valve. No large booms or floods occurred.

"I'll show you where you are sleeping, then you can decided if you want any of my food." She announced, seeing them finally get out of the car.

"So is this your place?" Naruto asked looking around. With the sun nearly set, they could make out the shapes of the junk yard - transportation vehicles, metal, glass, trash mounds were all around.

"Something like that." Rachel felt like answering. These people seemed more idiotic than dangerous...

"Thank you, for letting us stay." Gaara stated as she unlocked a door. Her eyes flashed to his, as if to check his intentions.

"After you." She opened the door and let them go in first - like she was letting to men follow her into a dark room!

They both entered and she flipped on a switch but stayed at the door way. Inside there was one closet, a couple of counter-tops, a bed, window a/c unit, a bathroom complete with a shower, and a table to eat on. It was the bare essentials, but they would have what they need - meaning she could lock her own place, to keep her own self safe.

"You might want to check the a/c and heat." She decided to inform them.

"Uh..." Naruto started looking around.

Rachel didn't have that much patience so instead she sighed, walked into the trailer with the two strangers, turned both on to check them, checked the microwave, the bathroom, and then sighed again before leaving.

"Food's this way if you need it. Else, I'll grab you blankets and then good night." She felt a bit annoyed, but now was just tired.

"Got ramen!?"

"No, again." As the girl opened the door, a small fluffy dog came charging out, teeth bared, ears back, ready to attack.

"KRACKER JACK!" Rachel screamed halting the small ankle biter from eating the two loony-toons. The 'cute' dog came back to her. She decided picking him up would probably keep two of the most favorite characters of Naruto being killed off for a little while longer. She had stopped watching the series and thus didn't know if they would end up dead later or not.

A bigger bark boomed out as Kimie came out with a sway. The Rottweiler was announcing to the world that someone was here, although she was more friendly than her looks made her seem. Kenny, the German Shepard, being an old man had to pee so he came out as well. He looked at the two and then went on his way. Kristy bounding for joy with her massive mouth open, also came to see what all the hullabaloo was about.

"Oh wow. You might beat Kiba." Naruto commented noting all the dogs. Kristy came up to him tail wagging and tongue hanging out.

"Hey boy." He greeted her hand out to pet.

"Girl." Rachel corrected automatically, unlocking her place before going in. She needed to get them blankets and food. Then she needed to close up the gate, and go to bed.

Tomorrow was going to be a headache, and she already had so much to handle as it was.


End file.
